Slavoj Žižek 's New Book

As I mentioned on numerous occasions, Slavoj Žižek is one of my favorite contemporary philosophers. He is also pretty much the only writer in the world whose works I'm so desperate to read that I even get them in hardcover.

So right now I'm in paradise, sitting in our local Borders reading Žižek's brand new Living in the End Times. To give you an insight into why I like him so much, here is a little quote from the very first page. Žižek is talking about the disillusionment that has set in in the former Soviet bloc countries against the democratic regimes that were installed in power after the collapse of the Soviet Union:

The people wanted to have their cake and eat it: they wanted capitalist-democratic freedom and material abundance but without paying the full price of life in a 'risk society' . . . As sarcastic Western commentators duly noted, the noble struggle for freedom and justice turned out to be little more than a craving for bananas and pornography.

You can disagree with Žižek about many things (as I do) but you can't deny that his writing is amazing.

A full review of the book is forthcoming (after I finish reading it).

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