Everybody by Olivia Laing is a captivating exploration of freedom, drawing on the experiences of various historical figures like Nina Simone, Susan Sontag, and Wilhelm Reich. Laing weaves together history, biography, memoir, and social criticism to delve into the pursuit of freedom in its different forms, from bodily freedom to freedom from oppression. The book navigates through interconnected vignettes that circle around the central idea of freedom, both within and without, ultimately culminating in a powerful and urgent final chapter that crystallizes the essence of the narrative.
Laing's writing style is described as clear, succinct, and profound, with the ability to evoke deep emotions in readers. Through her exploration of topics like health, trauma, sexuality, and civil rights, she creates a rich tapestry of stories that highlight the struggles and triumphs of individuals fighting for personal freedoms in the face of societal constraints.
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Triggers may include topics around trauma, health issues, loss, and discussions of oppression, but the level is moderate.
From The Publisher:
"Astute and consistently surprising critic" (NPR) Olivia Laing investigates the body and its discontents through the great freedom movements of the twentieth century.
The body is a source of pleasure and of pain, at once hopelessly vulnerable and radiant with power. In her ambitious, brilliant sixth book, Olivia Laing charts an electrifying course through the long struggle for bodily freedom, using the life of the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich to explore gay rights and sexual liberation, feminism, and the civil rights movement.
Drawing on her own experiences in protest and alternative medicine, and traveling from Weimar Berlin to the prisons of McCarthy-era America, Laing grapples with some of the most significant and complicated figures of the past century-among them Nina Simone, Christopher Isherwood, Andrea Dworkin, Sigmund Freud, Susan Sontag, and Malcolm X.
Despite its many burdens, the body remains a source of power, even in an era as technologized and automated as our own. Arriving at a moment in which basic bodily rights are once again imperiled, Everybody is an investigation into the forces arranged against freedom and a celebration of how ordinary human bodies can resist oppression and reshape the world. 1 illustration
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