The Unnamable Present

Nonfiction, History, Civilization, Modern, 20th Century
Cover of the book The Unnamable Present by Roberto Calasso, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Roberto Calasso ISBN: 9780374719104
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: April 9, 2019
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Roberto Calasso
ISBN: 9780374719104
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: April 9, 2019
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

A decisive key to help grasp some of the essential points of what is happening around us.

The ninth part of Roberto Calasso’s work in progress, The Unnamable Present, is closely connected with themes of the first book, The Ruin of Kasch (originally published in 1983, and recently reissued by FSG in a new translation). But while Kasch is an enlightened exploration of modernity, The Unnamable Present propels us into the twenty first century.

Tourists, terrorists, secularists, fundamentalists, hackers, transhumanists, algorithmicians: these are all tribes that inhabit the unnamable present and act on its nervous system. This is a world that seems to have no living past, but was foreshadowed in the period between 1933 and 1945, when everything appeared bent on self-annihilation. The Unnamable Present is a meditation on the obscure and ubiquitous process of transformation happening today in all societies, which makes so many previous names either inadequate or misleading or a parody of what they used to mean.

Translated with sensitivity by Calasso’s longtime translator, Richard Dixon, The Unnamable Present is a strikingly original and provocative vision of our times, from the writer The Paris Review called “a literary institution of one.”

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A decisive key to help grasp some of the essential points of what is happening around us.

The ninth part of Roberto Calasso’s work in progress, The Unnamable Present, is closely connected with themes of the first book, The Ruin of Kasch (originally published in 1983, and recently reissued by FSG in a new translation). But while Kasch is an enlightened exploration of modernity, The Unnamable Present propels us into the twenty first century.

Tourists, terrorists, secularists, fundamentalists, hackers, transhumanists, algorithmicians: these are all tribes that inhabit the unnamable present and act on its nervous system. This is a world that seems to have no living past, but was foreshadowed in the period between 1933 and 1945, when everything appeared bent on self-annihilation. The Unnamable Present is a meditation on the obscure and ubiquitous process of transformation happening today in all societies, which makes so many previous names either inadequate or misleading or a parody of what they used to mean.

Translated with sensitivity by Calasso’s longtime translator, Richard Dixon, The Unnamable Present is a strikingly original and provocative vision of our times, from the writer The Paris Review called “a literary institution of one.”

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Day of the Oprichnik by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Certain American States by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Friendship by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Venomous by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Autumn Glory by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book The Shepherd's Hut by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book God and Jetfire by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Call It Sleep by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Federico Fellini by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book The Old Gringo by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book The Man Who Saved Britain by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Peep and Egg: I'm Not Taking a Bath by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book This Is How It Goes by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book Mr. Know-It-All by Roberto Calasso
Cover of the book A Rage for Order by Roberto Calasso
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy