Coming from an author with so many descriptors—Stanford professor, artist, birdwatcher, archivist—Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing may give the illusion of contradiction when it comes to its creator. Her work is part self-help guide to the joys of detachment and the beauties of observation, and part manifesto on the personal and thus political import of separating oneself from the internet and its everlasting noise—a book that seeks to enable new possibilities for its readers. Unsurprisingly, How to Do Nothing spread through the overworked creative class like a meme, albeit one that offers a far more enduring path to joy and fulfillment.
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