Synopsis
By the author of the best-selling Straw Dogs, this book is a characteristically trenchant and unflinchingly clear-sighted collection of reflections on our contemporary lot. Whether writing about the future of our species on this planet, the folly of our faith in technological progress, or the self-deceptions of the liberal establishment, John Gray dares to be heretical like few other thinkers today.
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About the Author
John Gray is Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics.
Reviews
Gray, a philosopher and professor at the London School of Economics, sounds like the quintessential grumpy, world-weary intellectual: he disagrees with almost everyone and is pessimistic about almost everything. In these essays, originally published in the New Statesman, he contents himself with criticizing ideas and politics on both the right and left, but proposes little that might solve the problems he sees, apart from a typically contrarian endorsement of the use of torture (arguing that "in a truly liberal society, terrorists have an inalienable right to be tortured") and a wishful argument for why Europe needs to style itself as a "counterweight to American power." The book is divided into three parts: the first expands on Gray's view that humans (he calls them "Homo rapiens") have an apocalyptic capacity for self-destruction; the second looks at the war on terror; and the third focuses on European, mainly British, politics. Many of the essays revolve around current events-the earliest was written in 1999, the most recent in early 2004-but they already feel dated and distant, especially when he refers to the aftermath of 9/11 and the early stages of the Iraq war. Theoretically, Gray's cynical, nonpartisan opinion might appeal to Americans frustrated with the ideological polarization and intransigence of American politics, but his relentlessly crotchety discussion of not-so-current events is most likely to turn off readers.
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Heresies: Against Progress And Other Illusions
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Granta Books, United Kingdom, London, 2004
ISBN 10: 1862077185
ISBN 13: 9781862077188
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. By the author of the best-selling Straw Dogs, this book is a characteristically trenchant and unflinchingly clear-sighted collection of reflections on our contemporary lot. Whether writing about the future of our species on this planet, the folly of our faith in technological progress, or the self-deceptions of the liberal establishment, John Gray dares to be heretical like few other thinkers today. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001496406
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