Joshua Cohen was born in 1980 and has written three novels and a collection of short fiction. All of them are probes on attention, a subject that is very important in our times when the media, internet sites, and advertisers are all clamoring for us to give them a look-see. In this idiosyncratic book, he plays around with the idea of attention and lets it take him every which way. He points out that the term derives from a Latin word that is a development of "to reach out." Hence, attention can involve "grasping, gripping, steering a ship, enlisting the wind to get to the port even if the wind is against you." So let's get moving.
Cohen explores attention in Sumer, at Babel, and in Eden, then on to Egypt and the mind distractions of Orpheus. People jumped out of their skins during the Renaissance when they could focus their attention anywhere they wanted.
Cohen's commentary on print culture, cameras, and "neuroacademia" are bright and sassy. Attention by Joshua Cohen is recommended only for those who relish out-of-the-box books that are difficult to grab hold of and explain.
