“Žižek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation.” — The New Yorker

“The most dangerous philosopher in the West.” — Adam Kirsch, The New Republic

“An impressive feat… [Žižek] at his most powerful.” —The Guardian

“Passages of beauty… a hire-wire juxtaposition of far-left political theory and pop culture, held together by the force of [Žižek’s] rumpled charm.” —BuzzFeed

“A stimulating polemic.” —The Times Higher Education Supplement

“It is difficult to miss the supreme irony that what has brought us all together and promoted global solidarity expresses itself in everyday life as strict commands to avoid close contacts with others, to self-isolate … If in the Cold War the rule of survival was MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), now it is another MAD (Mutually Assured Distance).”

As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes, and speculate on the profundity of its consequences, all in a manner that will have you sweating profusely and gasping for breath?

We live in a moment when the greatest act of love is to stay distant from the object of your affection. When governments renowned for ruthless cuts in public spending can suddenly conjure up trillions. When toilet paper becomes a commodity as precious as diamonds. And when, according to Žižek, a new form of communism may be the only way of averting a descent into global barbarism.

Written with his customary brio and love of analogies in popular culture (Quentin Tarantino and H.G. Wells sit next to Hegel and Marx in these pages), Žižek provides a concise and provocative snapshot of the crisis as it widens, engulfing us all.

The author
Slavoj Žižek is one of the most prolific and well-known philosophers and cultural theorists in the world today. His inventive, provocative body of work challenges conventional wisdom and accepted verities on both the Left and the Right.