Dictionary of the Undoing
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- €3.99
Publisher Description
For John Freeman - literary critic, essayist, editor, poet and 'one of the preeminent book people of our time' (Dave Eggers) - it is a rare moment when words are not enough. But in the wake of the election of 2016, words felt useless, even indulgent. Action was the only reasonable response. He took to the streets in protest and the sense of community and collective conviction felt right. But the assaults continued - on citizens' rights and long-held compacts, on the core principles of our culture and civilisation, and on our language itself. Words seemed to be losing the meanings they once had and Freeman was compelled to return to their defence. The result is his Dictionary of the Undoing.
From A to Z, 'Agitate' to 'Zygote,' Freeman assembled the words that felt most essential, most potent, and began to build a case for their renewed power and authority, each word building on the last. The message that emerged was not to retreat behind books, but to emphatically engage in the public sphere, to redefine what it means to be a literary citizen.
With an afterword by Valeria Luiselli, Dictionary of the Undoing is a necessary, resounding cri de coeur in defense of language, meaning, and our ability to imagine, describe, and build a better world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Freeman (Maps), a critic, poet, and editor, offers an alphabet of hope and action in this spare, eloquent meditation on injustice. Only a reclaimed language, Freeman argues, offers the tools to fight global economic inequality, the crippling of democracies, looming environmental disaster, and pervasive apathy. The representative words, including resonant headings such as citizen, justice, and rage, introduce extended definitions that are sobering, probing, and precise. Some are warnings; a vote, for instance, "is the difference between a citizen and a subject." And some are calls to action: the entry for teachers begins, "If our society is ever going to approach justice, we need revolutionary change." Freeman provides an incisive narrative of how the world is "edging toward tyranny" and lays a blueprint for rebuilding a decent society, urging readers to "back away from flickering screens," repopulate public spaces, retain "vigilance about how language is used," and participate in small, rebellious acts of kindness, generosity, and optimism. A protest, a poem, and a plea, Freeman's utterly original manifesto is a pocket manual for informed political dissent and a must-read for all thinking citizens, a "lexicon of engagement and meaning."
