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Loser Sons:

Politics and Authority
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There are sons who grow up unhappily believing that no matter what they do, they cannot please their fathers. These are the ''loser sons,'' a group of historical men as varied as President George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, and Mohammed Atta. Their names quickly illustrate that not only are their problems serious, but they also make serious problems for others, expanding to whole nations. When God is conceived and inculcated as an angry and impossible-to-please father, the problems can last for generations.In Loser Sons, Avital Ronell draws on current philosophy, literary history, and political events to confront the grim fact that divested boys become terrifying men. Looking beyond our current moment, she interrogates the problems of authority, paternal fantasy, and childhood as they have been explored and exemplified by Franz Kafka, Goethe's Faust, Benjamin Franklin, Jean-François Lyotard, Hannah Arendt, Alexandre Kojève, and Immanuel Kant. Shockingly honest, Ronell addresses the implications of her insights directly to her readers, challenging them to think through their own notions of authority and their responses to it.
Loser Sons will endear and fascinate the theoretically curious and will speak to intellectually and politically adventurous audiences. A welcome intervention in the art of political physiognomy and progressive seismography, both redeemed from their most violent and delusional of expectations.--Hent de Vries, editor of Religion: Beyond a Concept

''In addition to its importance for the ongoing readers of Ronell's work, this book will be automatically a requirement in the field of study of authority. A beautifully written and composed study that sets new highest standards.''--Laurence A. Rickels, author of Aberrations of Mourning: Writings on German Crypts
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