How To Not Be Afraid Of Everything

The Granta

Zizek's Jokes

Žižek as comedian: jokes in the service of philosophy. “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.”—Ludwig Wittgenstein The good news is that this book offers an entertaining but enlightening compilation of Žižekisms. Unlike any other book by Slavoj Žižek, this compact arrangement of jokes culled from his writings provides an index to certain philosophical, political, and sexual themes that preoccupy him. Žižek's Jokes contains the set-ups and punch lines—as well as the offenses and insults—that Žižek is famous for, all in less than 200 pages. So what's the bad news? There is no bad news. There's just the inimitable Slavoj Žižek, disguised as an impossibly erudite, politically incorrect uncle, beginning a sentence, “There is an old Jewish joke, loved by Derrida...“ For Žižek, jokes are amusing stories that offer a shortcut to philosophical insight. He illustrates the logic of the Hegelian triad, for example, with three variations of the “Not tonight, dear, I have a headache” classic: first the wife claims a migraine; then the husband does; then the wife exclaims, “Darling, I have a terrible migraine, so let's have some sex to refresh me!” A punch line about a beer bottle provides a Lacanian lesson about one signifier. And a “truly obscene” version of the famous “aristocrats” joke has the family offering a short course in Hegelian thought rather than a display of unspeakables. Žižek's Jokes contains every joke cited, paraphrased, or narrated in Žižek's work in English (including some in unpublished manuscripts), including different versions of the same joke that make different points in different contexts. The larger point being that comedy is central to Žižek's seriousness.

Don’T Kill the Love

There isnt a soul on this Earth that hasnt had or isnt having problems in their lives, and you ask yourself why that is. Would you like to find out the secrets to making a better life? There are so many mysteries that many of us dont understand or cant even comprehend. Thats why author Violeta Messina wrote Dont Kill the Love: to help you to understand these mysteries so your life can be better. Why do we have bad relationships with our wives or relatives? Why do we feel sick one day and not another? Why do we have accidents? Who are our children really, and why were we put on this Earth? If you want to know the secrets to making your life a better one, then Dont Kill the Love will take you on a journey you will never forget. Messina has been put through many challenges in her lifenear-death experiences, diseases, and the deformation of her body. She wrote this book to help you learn about yourself.