Dysphoria Mundi

(Paperback)

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In Dysphoria Mundi, Paul B. Preciado has written a mutant text assembled from essays, philosophy, poetry and autofiction that captures a moment of profound change and possibility. Rooted in the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, and taking account of the societal convulsions that have ensued, Preciado tries to make sense of our times from within the swirl of a revolutionary present moment. The central thesis of this monumental work is that dysphoria, to be understood properly, should not be seen as a mental illness but rather as the condition that defines our times. Dysphoria is an abyss that separates a patriarchal, colonial and capitalist order hurtling toward its end from a new way of being that, until now, has been seen as unproductive and abnormal but is in fact the way out of our current predicament. With echoes of visionaries such as William S. Burroughs and Kathy Acker, Preciado's theoretical writing is propelled by lyric power while providing us with a critical toolbox full of new concepts that can guide our thinking and our actions: transition, cognitive emancipation, denormalization, disidentification, 'electronic heroin', digital coups, necro-kitsch. Dysphoria Mundi is Preciado's most accessible and significant work to date, in which he makes sense of a world in ruins around us and maps a joyous, radical way forward.

Reviews

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'How lucky we are to have Paul Preciado as companion and interpreter of all we've just been through, with a global pandemic - luckier still is the gift of his revolutionary optimism, which runs through his thorough, gritty analysis of our current predicament. If you're tired of ricocheting between neofascists and doomer dudes, here comesDysphoria Mundito recast our situation as "the most beautiful (or devastating) collective adventure we have ever embarked on," and give us new strategies and inspiration to reconceptualize - and stay on - the ride.'

- Maggie Nelson, author ofThe Argonauts

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'An important dissident of dualism.'

- Amia Srinivasan, author ofThe Right to Sex

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'Paul Preciado's singular genius is for writing vividly within the immediacy of everyday life, and then also unraveling from there the deeper historical forces that shape those moments. InDysphoria Mundiwe learn how the invisible traces of a virus thread bodies and societies together, lacing us into shifting regimes of power and commodification. Preciadio has that rare ability to lead the reader through familiar situations to unexpected conceptual insight. An essential thinker for the contemporary world.'

- McKenzie Wark, author ofReverse Cowgirl

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'This monumental work brings the commitments of the bibliophile to bear on a time and a world now irreversibly out of joint. Drawing on theories of language, mind, technology, immunology to retell a story of this world, Preciado's work more firmly shatters the binaries responsible for the destruction of love and futurity.'

- Judith Butler

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'The philosopher of the future.'

- El Pais

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Author Bio

Paul B. Preciado is the author of Can the Monster Speak, An Apartment on Uranus, Counter-Sexual Manifesto and Testo Junkie, among other books, and wrote and directed the film Orlando, My Political Biography. He is the Director of the Institute for Planetary Transition at LUMA Arles, France. He was born in Spain and lives in France. Dysphoria Mundi is his third book to appear with Fitzcarraldo Editions.