{"product_id":"changing-the-subject-sven-birkerts-9781555977214","title":"Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrenchant, expansive essays on the cultural consequences of ongoing, all-permeating technological innovation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1994, Sven Birkerts published \u003ci\u003eThe Gutenberg Elegies\u003c\/i\u003e, his celebrated rallying cry to resist the oncoming digital advances, especially those that might affect the way we read literature and experience art--the very cultural activities that make us human.\u003cbr\u003e After two decades of rampant change, Birkerts has allowed a degree of everyday digital technology into his life. He refuses to use a smartphone, but communicates via e-mail and spends some time reading online. In \u003ci\u003eChanging the Subject\u003c\/i\u003e, he examines the changes that he observes in himself and others--the distraction when reading on the screen; the loss of personal agency through reliance on GPS and one-stop information resources; an increasing acceptance of \"hive\" behaviors. \"An unprecedented shift is underway,\" he argues, and \"this transformation is dramatically accelerated and more psychologically formative than any previous technological innovation.\" He finds solace in engagement with art, particularly literature, and he brilliantly describes the countering energy available to us through acts of sustained attention, even as he worries that our increasingly mediated existences are not conducive to creativity.\u003cbr\u003e It is impossible to read \u003ci\u003eChanging the Subject\u003c\/i\u003e without coming away with a renewed sense of what is lost by our wholesale acceptance of digital innovation and what is regained when we immerse ourselves in a good book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sven Birkerts\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1555977219\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781555977214\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/06\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/10\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2015 pg. 136\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/27\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/25\/2015 pg. 17\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2015 pg. 5\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/04\/2015 pg. 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/13\/2015","brand":"Sven Birkerts","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43980085494015,"sku":"9781555977214","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_60baae04-8605-4c16-8146-b7da6aa56760.jpg?v=1683248303","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/changing-the-subject-sven-birkerts-9781555977214","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}