Little Black Cart sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest, thoughtful review.

More precise rating: 55/100

i was perhaps predisposed to dislike this. a quick skim indicated the author holds an individualist-nihilist-elitist perspective, which i usually abhor, and my judgments were mostly borne out in my aesthetic reactions

acosta has a few genuinely enjoyable and original insights here and there. the highlight for me was his conception and celebration of acid words, of poesie (tho i would say poesis) in quotidian conversation, and the idea of the jabberwocky language

acosta also demonstrates excellent taste in terms of reading recommendations, works cited, and quotations. he shares a delightful selection of feneon's "novels", brings together a number of authors to provide a review of contemporary discussions on anarchy and nihilism, describes one of the main arguments in perlman's "leviathan", summarizes and situates much of debord's thought, and brings several intriguing writers into dialogue together on the world/planet/earth/climate crisis

while i love some good recommendations, and enjoy seeing an interesting collection of authors and quotes juxtaposed, there is not much more to acosta's use of citations or quotations. with every quote or citation i thought "wow, that does sound interesting. i would much rather b reading that." neither exegesis nor synthesis is acosta's forte. the result is that much of the collection reads like a procession of quotes and name-drops interspersed with tedious, unnecessary, obvious, or obtuse explications, at the end of which acosta gestures vaguely and indifferently towards some potential conclusion

the most irritating aspect however was acosta's unbridled elitism, on full display in his denigration and dismissal of activists and their "margarine words". acosta evidently lives in a transcendental ideal world, where the fuzzy latent significance of words is vastly more important than any practical action that concretely affects the lives of others. from his anecdotes, examples, and tone he sounds like a self-important pedant whining abt being told to shut up at an organizing meeting. he basically assumes that "activist types" do not engage deeply with him bc they r too beholden to stultifying convention, too fearful of experimentation and boldness. he has not considered, however, that ppl refused to engage deeply w him bc it seemed to them like a waste of their time.

his conception of "mana words" is imo quite embarrassing. he suggests that while margarine words have become overly fixed in their intentional deployment, thus being recuperated by/as spectacle, mana words are characterized by their undetermined and uncertain intentionality when deployed. that "activist types" use jargon as a communicative cudgel, while "theory types" use jargon in experimental ways. i see what he's getting at, but honestly it sounds to me like he doesn't know what he's trying to say when he uses social-theoretic jargon. some of us like to use activist jargon AND theoretical jargon, and do so with equal intentionality, the ability to connect and relate the two, and the ability to explain what the fuck we're talking abt.

the essay is almost redeemed by the exciting development and celebration of "acid words". almost, but not quite.

flip thru the works cited, read some of feneon's novels, mb check out the end of the essay on acid words, but otherwise the whole things rather tedious ( )