24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep - Softcover

Jonathan Crary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781683107 ISBN 13: 9781781683101

Publisher: Verso Books, 2014

Synopsis

24/7

About this title

Review:

“Sleep is a standing affront to capitalism. That is the argument of Jonathan Crary’s provocative and fascinating essay, which takes 24/7 as a spectral umbrella term for round-the-clock consumption and production in today’s world. The human power nap is a macho response to what Crary notes is the alarming shrinkage of sleep in modernity. ‘The average North American adult now sleeps approximately six and a half hours a night,’ he observes, which is ‘an erosion from eight hours a generation ago’ and ‘ten hours in the early twentieth century’ ... A humane and bracingly splenetic counterblast, with a lot of interesting micro-theses along the way.” – Steven Poole, New Statesman

“A dark, brilliant book.” – Michael Hardt, Artforum

“A polemic as finely concentrated as a line of pure cocaine.” – Los Angeles Review of Books

“24/7 is the capstone of Crary’s archeology of the spectacle and arguably the most significant of the lot. It’s informed by the erudition of one of the most thorough and original researchers on the planet.” – PopMatters

“A masterful exploration of the place of the human individual, their dreams and the future of the species in today’s age of nonstop neoliberal capitalism and its multitude of manifestations.” – CounterPunch

“Jonathan Crary updates Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man with a vigilant critique of the totality of the seemingly eternal present.” – McKenzie Wark, author of The Spectacle of Disintegration

“24/7 cuts through a lot of the starry-eyed nonsense people talk about the empowering nature of new technologies and keeps in mind the whole time that, as far as late capitalism is concerned, we are nothing more than ultimately disposable units for keeping economies running ... Read this, and ponder its implications. I would even venture to suggest you sleep on it.” – Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian

“Crary's talent as a pamphleteer is unequaled...” – Corriere della Sera

About the Author:

Jonathan Crary is Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory at Columbia University. His books include 'Techniques of the Observer' and 'Suspensions of Perception.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Verso Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1781683107
• ISBN 13: 9781781683101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144