Changing the Subject is not only a diagnosis of distraction but a prescription for it — an absorbing narrative to get lost in for a time, even as our inboxes and Twitter feeds beg for our attention.
Unlike many of the complaints that have been lodged against the Internet, there is no shouting in Birkerts’s thoughtful indictment. Birkerts is worried, but he is not nervous. He is vexed, but he is not outraged.
Although I too have committed much of my life to literature, this does seem a rather reductive vision of human destiny. More pertinently, I doubt it will reduce Internet use by a single click.
Is it the ironic tragedy of Birkerts’s spot-on observations that in the distracting cacophony of this noisy, noisy world, most will not pay heed to a necessary treasure like Changing the Subject?
Birkerts says he's 'not ready to assent' to the total technological takeover of contemporary life, and in Changing the Subject he makes an inspired argument that his is a campaign worth supporting.
Birkerts’s essays are important. They may not be the last word on digital life, but his is a much-needed voice in a conversation usually dominated by tech apologists.
