{"product_id":"desire-and-fate-david-rieff-paperback","title":"Desire and Fate -- David Rieff, Paperback","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Ours is an ill-mannered society that wears those bad manners as a badge not just of its moral rectitude but of its millenarian ethical ambitions. At the same time, in no society in recent memory have people been so easily affronted.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt a time when political writing and cultural criticism have come to be dominated by an insipid and unthinking moralism, David Rieff's essays offer a bracing antidote. As well as being one of the English-speaking world's most perceptive commentators on global politics, Rieff has in recent years been one of its most courageous and outspoken critics of the pathologies of identity politics--in particular, its grossly simplistic understanding of what it means to belong to a culture or a community, its fundamental failure to grasp the real value of the creative arts, and its increasing disregard for due process and freedom of expression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe essays that appear in \u003ci\u003eDesire and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e serve both as a crucial record of and a fierce protest against these developments. Covering topics as diverse as censorship in contemporary publishing, the cultural ubiquity of the notion of trauma, and the future of democracy on a global level, they are all characterised by an incisive intelligence and a refreshing lack of wishful thinking. Together they confirm Rieff's status as an indispensable writer and thinker.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e David Rieff\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Eris\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1\/14\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 260\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 7.6\" H x 4.9\" L x 1\" W\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781912475384\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flowerburst LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49534925570352,"sku":"9781912475384","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2712\/8368\/files\/9781912475384_3ce8e247-c085-4f7a-bc12-0671c103f9dc.jpg?v=1774411753","url":"https:\/\/flowerburst.co\/products\/desire-and-fate-david-rieff-paperback","provider":"Flowerburst","version":"1.0","type":"link"}