{"product_id":"the-demon-of-writing-ben-kafka-9781935408260","title":"The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince the middle of the eighteenth century, political thinkers of all kinds -- radical and reactionary, professional and amateur -- have been complaining about \"bureaucracy.\" But what, exactly, is all this complaining about? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Demon of Writing\u003c\/i\u003e is a critical history and theory of one of the most ubiquitous, least understood forms of media: paperwork. States rely on records to tax and spend, protect and serve, discipline and punish. But time and again this paperwork proves to be unreliable. Examining episodes from the story of a clerk who lost his job and then his mind in the French Revolution to Roland Barthes's brief stint as a university administrator, the book reveals the powers, failures, and even pleasures of paperwork. Many of its complexities, the book argues, have been obscured by the comic-paranoid style that characterizes so many of our criticisms of bureaucracy. At the same time, the book outlines a new theory of what Marx called the \"bureaucratic medium.\" Returning first to Marx, then to Freud, \u003ci\u003eThe Demon of Writing\u003c\/i\u003e argues that this theory of paperwork must be attentive to both praxis and parapraxis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ben Kafka\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1935408267\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781935408260\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Zone Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/27\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 184\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.20w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/08\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/06\/2012 pg. 33","brand":"Ben Kafka","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44045801685247,"sku":"9781935408260","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4c97b1dd-2974-4a8a-8d83-ac6b83fad4cd.jpg?v=1684980843","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-demon-of-writing-ben-kafka-9781935408260","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}