My Account
Log in Registration
All
Cart
Highlights
Fiction Books
Non-Fiction Books
Children's Books
Rare Books
Music
DVD & Blu-Ray
Video Games
Category
Wishlists
Cart
All
Free Shipping in the UK
Trustpilot
Proud to be B-Corp

The Call of Character Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)

The Call of Character By Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)

The Call of Character by Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)

Reviews:
£15.30
Condition - Very Good
Out of stock
Very Good

The Call of Character Summary

The Call of Character: Living a Life Worth Living by Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)

Should we feel inadequate when we fail to be healthy, balanced, and well-adjusted? Is it realistic or even desirable to strive for such an existential equilibrium? Condemning our current cultural obsession with cheerfulness and positive thinking, Mari Ruti calls for a resurrection of character that honors our more eccentric frequencies and argues that sometimes a tormented and anxiety-ridden life can also be rewarding. Ruti critiques the search for personal meaning and pragmatic attempts to normalize human beings' unruly and idiosyncratic natures. Exposing the tragic banality of a happy life commonly lived, she instead emphasizes the advantages of a lopsided life rich in passion and fortitude. She also shows what matters is not our ability to evade existential uncertainty but our courage to meet adversity in such a way that we do not become irrevocably broken. We are in danger of losing the capacity to cope with complexity, ambiguity, melancholia, disorientation, and disappointment, Ruti warns, leaving us feeling less real and less connected and unable to process a full range of emotions. Heeding the call of our character means acknowledging the marginalized, chaotic aspects of our being, and it is precisely these creative qualities that make us inimitable and irreplaceable.

The Call of Character Reviews

The Call of Character engages questions of perennial interest to philosophers, theorists, and all individuals, and Mari Ruti is perhaps uniquely qualified to write it. She has an uncanny ability to translate complex theoretical issues into clear and readable-yet not the least bit dumbed-down-prose. Her treatment of the timeless question (what makes for a good life?) is both original and insightful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. -- Amy Allen, Dartmouth College This book will contribute powerfully to discussions of the self from a position both inside and outside the critical psychoanalytic discourse. -- Gail Newman, Williams College The Call of Character is expansively erudite yet plain-spoken, honest with a dazzling self-consciousness that situates itself historically in our present moment. Ruti's singular voice gives words to those necessary though often disavowed tensions of human life. I have already used insights from this book in my work with patients, to whom I have directly recommended Ruti's works before. She helps us to understand our private impediments that inherently obscure our relation to our own desires. The Call of Character should be read by academics, clinicians, and students, but most importantly by those who want to live with authentic vitality in a world that makes it seem difficult to do so. -- Joseph S. Reynoso, Ph.D., book review editor, Psychoanalytic Psychology Ruti's fabulous new book revels in the unanswerable mystery of the call of character-that aspect of ourselves that makes each of us unique, passionate, yet also perpetually dissatisfied and longing for more. In Ruti's hands, dissatisfaction at our incompleteness becomes not a reason for despair but a source of fascination and political possibility: a summons to pursue an erotics of being in the most mundane aspects of our everyday lives. -- Lynne Huffer, Emory University

About Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)

Mari Ruti is professor of critical theory at the University of Toronto and visiting professor and director of graduate studies in the Program for Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University. Her Columbia University Press books are Between Levinas and Lacan: Self, Other, Ethics (2015) and The Call of Character: Living a Life Worth Living (2013).

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Part I. The Art of Self-Fashioning 1. The Call of Character 2. The Process of Becoming 3. The Specificity of Desire Part II. The Art of Self-Responsibility 4. The Blueprints of Behavior 5. The Alchemy of Relationality 6. The Ethics of Responsibility Part III. The Art of Self-Surrender 7. The Swerve of Passion 8. The Upside of Anxiety 9. The Erotics of Being Notes Index

Additional information

GOR008820258
9780231164085
0231164084
The Call of Character: Living a Life Worth Living by Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)
Mari Ruti (Professor of Critical Theory, University of Toronto, St. George Campus)
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Columbia University Press
2013-12-03
224
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Call of Character