On Impotence: Life in an Age of Frenetic Paralysis

An incisive and urgent book that explores the hidden roots of our contemporary powerlessness.

Contemporary life is marked by a paradoxical form of impotence. Whether in love, labor, or political struggle, we often find ourselves locked in a state of frenetic paralysis—unable to act as we wish or to endure what confronts us. This impotence is not born of lack, but of excess: an abundance of skills, capacities, and opportunities that, instead of taking form as coherent actions or speech, stag...