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How to Do Nothing
- Resisting the Attention Economy
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
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How to Do Nothing
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Saving Time
- Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock
- Written by: Jenny Odell
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2.5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story1.5 out of 5 stars 2
In her first book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell wrote about the importance of disconnecting from the “attention economy” to spend time in quiet contemplation. But what if you don’t have time to spend? In order to answer this seemingly simple question, Odell took a deep dive into the fundamental structure of our society and found that the clock we live by was built for profit, not people.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Narration is solid enough, but this book feels cobbled together
- By Anonymous User on 2023-05-27
Written by: Jenny Odell
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Trick Mirror
- Reflections on Self-Delusion
- Written by: Jia Tolentino
- Narrated by: Jia Tolentino
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating an unparalleled stylistic potency and critical dexterity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Reflection on the book
- By Rov on 2021-02-08
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Monsters
- A Fan's Dilemma
- Written by: Claire Dederer
- Narrated by: Claire Dederer
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2
Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.
Written by: Claire Dederer
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Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- Written by: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story5 out of 5 stars 52
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful, powerful, loving and transformative!
- By Onye N on 2022-12-30
Written by: Tricia Hersey
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The Fire Next Time
- Written by: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 125
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Story5 out of 5 stars 124
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I had to listen to it a few times
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-09-24
Written by: James Baldwin
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How Democracies Die
- Written by: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The unwritten of a functional democracy
- By WJ on 2020-07-30
Written by: Steven Levitsky, and others
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Saving Time
- Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock
- Written by: Jenny Odell
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2.5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story1.5 out of 5 stars 2
In her first book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell wrote about the importance of disconnecting from the “attention economy” to spend time in quiet contemplation. But what if you don’t have time to spend? In order to answer this seemingly simple question, Odell took a deep dive into the fundamental structure of our society and found that the clock we live by was built for profit, not people.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Narration is solid enough, but this book feels cobbled together
- By Anonymous User on 2023-05-27
Written by: Jenny Odell
-
Trick Mirror
- Reflections on Self-Delusion
- Written by: Jia Tolentino
- Narrated by: Jia Tolentino
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating an unparalleled stylistic potency and critical dexterity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reflection on the book
- By Rov on 2021-02-08
Written by: Jia Tolentino
-
Monsters
- A Fan's Dilemma
- Written by: Claire Dederer
- Narrated by: Claire Dederer
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2
Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.
Written by: Claire Dederer
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- Written by: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 52
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful, powerful, loving and transformative!
- By Onye N on 2022-12-30
Written by: Tricia Hersey
-
The Fire Next Time
- Written by: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 125
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 124
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I had to listen to it a few times
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-09-24
Written by: James Baldwin
-
How Democracies Die
- Written by: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The unwritten of a functional democracy
- By WJ on 2020-07-30
Written by: Steven Levitsky, and others
Publisher's Summary
A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attention - and our personal information - that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we've been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world
Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.
So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious - and overdrawn - resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind's role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.
Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we hear so often, How to Do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.
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What listeners say about How to Do Nothing
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-03-17
ROBOT VOICE narration is UNLISTENABLE!
I am 100% sure that it's not a real person reading this book. "Rebecca Gibel" is a computer algorithm. I don't know about you but I can't listen to the answering machine lady for 10 minutes, let alone 8 hours! I am flabbergasted that they are allowed to sell this. I love Jenny Odell and have watched all of her TED talks and presentations available on youtube. I'm sure this book is as wonderful as they are. I am incredibly disappointed.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2020-05-13
The book is fine. The reading? I dunno...
Couldn't listen to that reading voice any more. So I just read it without. Love the book and all it has to say.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JMS
- 2020-04-05
Not a fan of narrator; content is great
Podcast of my review available on Apply podcasts and Anchor under Audiobook reviews in 5 minutes:
Apple podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=1500773777
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/audiobookreviews/episodes/Review-of-How-to-Do-Nothing-Resisting-the-Attention-Economy-by-Jenny-Odell-ec42po
Much of Odell’s discussion examines the opportunities and pitfalls of our obsession with productivity, and what she describes as essentialism, which broadly describes a tendency to categorize and simplify how we order and understand the world. Another powerful idea Odell discusses is context collapse; think about how you might share your travel experience details with different groups, such as family members, colleagues, or close friends, vs how you’d share those details on social media. For myself, this helped me understand why, although I’m a communications professional, I tend toward the visual and sharing images on social media like Instagram, which contain their own context in a more satisfying way (in my opinion) than text-dominant platforms like Twitter.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeff Clayton
- 2019-12-17
narrator ruins it for me
That's all I wanted to say - the ideas are great, the narration sounds like a Hallmark movie..... ruined it.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ailsa
- 2020-02-14
amazing!
what a fascinating listen. I loved all the themes Odell threaded through the narrative: bioregionalism, public space, activism and community engagement. this will merit several more listens, as it's packed with ideas.
I'm very pleased I didn't let the negative reviews on the narrator keep me from buying this. I found her to be just fine - she has a "radio" style rather than that of a fiction narrator, but it is very much in keeping with the tone of the book. absolutely worth listening to!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-11-26
unlistenable narrator
ughhhhh - the material is fascinating but I'm just gonna go out and buy the book to read because the robot narrator is awful. this audiobook is impossible to follow because it's like listening to a computer and I just keep tuning out :(
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- EDaze
- 2023-10-17
Ideas overshadowed by AI narration
What a sad piece of irony that this book, with so many points about the pitfalls of progress, is almost certainly “read” by AI. Some great nuggets of info and inspiration, but practically unlistenable — I feel sorry for the author.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Sara Frystacki
- 2023-08-03
Did not enjoy
The narrator’s voice sounds like a robot.
The book was not as expected and not practical.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-12-06
Great book
Despite the overly formal and AI-like voice, I loved everything the author wrote. Smart, creative, funny, and not preachy or self-helpy.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- D
- 2021-07-13
Disappointed by the outcome
I had high hopes for this book, and was thrilled to crack it open after hearing both the sample and the description. This was definitely the book I felt I needed, but it tragically failed to deliver. I don’t often leave negative reviews on books — in fact I don’t think I ever have before, but this one really did discourage me. “How To Do Nothing” could more accurately be titled as “How To Waste Your Time.” The author’s premise is fantastic, and she has all the makings of a brilliant thesis here, but she ends up diving into tangents that make no logical connection to the book, and then claims to be doing this on purpose as a matter of proving her point. Instead of proving fantastic points that could help both draw me into her message and make me feel empowered to take a stance myself, she casts the reader into muddy pool after a muddy pool. Over half of this book I would suggest completely wasted my time, from diving way too deep into how social media platforms invest their resources, to random tangents about the merits of wildlife behaviour — even that makes it sound more interesting than it is. She speaks to her readers from an academic standpoint, but then tries desperately hard to prove how clever she is. I think this is the work of a brilliant thinker, who needed a supportive editor.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-08-24
great book, voiceover is brutal
it’s difficult to listen to this book about resisting technology when the narrators voice sounds computer generated. unfortunate because this is a wonderful book with meaningful insight about navigating today’s world — it’s just plain hard to listen to. in practice of the book, read the print version instead!!!
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38 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-09-16
the narration is shockingly bad
The voiceover really does a disservice to the work. It's almost hard to comment on the work itself because I'm still trying to figure out how to listen to what feels like Alexa talking at me for 8 hours.
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22 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Joan Q Public
- 2019-09-10
just cant listen
I wanted to listen to this book, but the narration was too mechanical and irritating.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kate Woodbury
- 2020-03-05
worst narrator ever
i thought i could handle the narrator after listening to the sample but it starts to get impossible to listen to by chapter 3. it's too bad because i think i would have gotten a lot from this book had the narration been well-done. i listen to a LOT of audiobooks, 15 in the last two months, and this is the worst narration i've ever heard.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rob
- 2019-11-19
Unlistenable
I know that narration is harder than it seems, but this narrator can’t even complete a sentence. She ends a phrase with a level tone (not up, like a question, nor down like a period). It’s just silence and you think it’s a pause but it was the end of a sentence or paragraph.
I’ll check this out on kindle.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Alexey Badalov
- 2019-09-05
Not convinced narration is not computer-generated
I find it admirable that the author discovered curiosity about the natural world, but it was hard to listen to the book narrated in this detached voice with a consistently panicked expression, often as if on the verge of tears.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Eddie
- 2019-08-29
Long Essay Not A Novel
I love the topic and really enjoy the concept. You need to deliberately refuse certain parts of the attention economy if you're going to live a balanced life. Simply deleting social media apps and running away isn't sustainable. However, the way in which it was delivered felt like listening to a really long essay in which each chapter proves one point, and feels like one long paragraph. I found myself skipping to the next chapter halfway through once I understood the point of it. It is also obviously read by a robot. Sounds like the book is read by Siri. It didn't bother me at first, but once I noticed I could no longer pay attention without the voice distracting me.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E
- 2020-02-26
Narrator voice was distracting
The book is good. The narration sounds like a robotic text to voice app. It’s sort of hard to believe it’s a real live person. Made it hard to pay attention
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Maria V. Bissex
- 2019-06-30
some good nuggets
I suppose I should have known from the subtitle, but this book was far more political than I expected, which hampered my enjoyment of it. I still got some interesting tidbits out of it though.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2019-09-24
It sounded great at first glance, but
When I first read the summary, it sounded like this book was about how to slow down and break away from the economical ratrace and such, but within a few minutes I realized that this book was going to be politically charged and is just spreading barely disguised negativity. Thanks, but no thanks.
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4 people found this helpful