{"product_id":"comedy-against-work-utopian-longing-in-dystopian-times-9781942173700","title":"Comedy Against Work: Utopian Longing in Dystopian Times","description":"\u003cb\u003eWork is a joke. Laughing at it is political.\u003c\/b\u003eHumor, Groucho Marx asserted, is \"reason gone mad.\" For Walter Benjamin, laughter was \"the most revolutionary emotion.\" In a moment when great numbers of people are reevaluating their commitment to the hellscape we call \"work,\" what does it mean to take comedy seriously--and to turn it against work?Both philosophically brilliant and deeply personal, \u003ci\u003eComedy Against Work\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003edemonstrates how laughing about work can puncture the pretensions of tyrannical bosses while uniting us around a commitment to radically new ways of making the world together. At the same time, Lane-McKinley exposes a war at the heart of contemporary comedy between those who see comedy as a weapon for punching down and those whose laughter points to social transformation. From stand-up to sitcoms, podcasts to late night, comedy reveals our longing to subvert power, escape the prison of work, and envision the joys of a liberated world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMadeline Lane-McKinley\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer, professor, and Marxist-feminist with a PhD in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a founding member of \u003ci\u003eBlind Field: A Journal of Cultural Inquiry\u003c\/i\u003e. Her writing has appeared in publications such as \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBoston Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Inquiry\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEntropy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGUTS\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eCultural Politics\u003c\/i\u003e. She is also the author of the chapbook \u003ci\u003eDear Z\u003c\/i\u003e and a contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe Museum of Capitalism\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Common Notions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50496991756562,"sku":"9781942173700","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_049d482c-b8df-4d8f-ab64-3800374cf5d9.jpg?v=1730704329","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/comedy-against-work-utopian-longing-in-dystopian-times-9781942173700","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}