{"product_id":"loneliness-as-a-way-of-life-9780674047884","title":"Loneliness as a Way of Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"What does it mean to be lonely?\" Thomas Dumm asks. His inquiry, documented in this book, takes us beyond social circumstances and into the deeper forces that shape our very existence as modern individuals. The modern individual, Dumm suggests, is fundamentally a lonely self. Through reflections on philosophy, political theory, literature, and tragic drama, he proceeds to illuminate a hidden dimension of the human condition. His book shows how loneliness shapes the contemporary division between public and private, our inability to live with each other honestly and in comity, the estranged forms that our intimate relationships assume, and the weakness of our common bonds. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA reading of the relationship between Cordelia and her father in Shakespeare's \u003ci\u003eKing Lear\u003c\/i\u003e points to the most basic dynamic of modern loneliness--how it is a response to the problem of the \"missing mother.\" Dumm goes on to explore the most important dimensions of lonely experience--Being, Having, Loving, and Grieving. As the book unfolds, he juxtaposes new interpretations of iconic cultural texts--\u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDeath of a Salesman\u003c\/i\u003e, the film \u003ci\u003eParis\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTexas\u003c\/i\u003e, Emerson's \"Experience,\" to name a few--with his own experiences of loneliness, as a son, as a father, and as a grieving husband and widower. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten with deceptive simplicity, \u003ci\u003eLoneliness as a Way of Life\u003c\/i\u003e is something rare--an intellectual study that is passionately personal. It challenges us, not to overcome our loneliness, but to learn how to re-inhabit it in a better way. To fail to do so, this book reveals, will only intensify the power that it holds over us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Thomas Dumm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harvard University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/01\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.53lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.54w x 0.57d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674047884","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43446858481801,"sku":"9780674047884","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_86dc0ec2-e84c-4a0e-99a1-a6dc6071ad56.jpg?v=1741683857","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/loneliness-as-a-way-of-life-9780674047884","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}