About Distraction
What does it mean to be distracted, and why?
In this insightful journey through the lives of philosophers, artists and great political thinkers, Damon Young shows how
rewarding patient, sensitive and thoughtful attention to the world can be. He suggests that the opposite of a life of
distraction is one of genuine freedom. Click here to read an extract in The Age newspaper.
Buy Distraction at all good bookshops, or online at Readings (Australia), Amazon (US), Amazon (UK).
Praise for Distraction
"Best Books 2008" - Australian Financial Review, BOSS
"Highly Recommended" - 2008/9 Summer Reading Guide
"In his lucid and optimistic book, Damon Young encourages us to tame the distractions that are pointless, and nurture those
that are good." - Financial Times (UK)
"This author makes 'dancing' with the philosophic and artistic masters...enjoyable even though one may be tone-deaf to the
music and not know the steps." - Bookseller + Publisher magazine
"Young communicates ideas with enthusiasm and a genuine emotional connection to his subjects, their triumphs and frailties.
He is a talent." - The Australian
"Damon Young's Distraction...takes up the perennial theme of individual liberty and does something with it very much along the
lines of Alain de Botton or John Armstrong." - The Age
"His voice is an amiable presence, the writing is lively and sometimes very fine." - The Australian Literary Review
"He is a punchy writer, with a gift for turning complex ideas into readable, entertaining stories." - Canberra Times
"This warm and witty book does something wonderful: it brings the great ideas of philosophy into our lives. Young is a
bright new voice." - John Armstrong, author of The Secret Power of Beauty and Love, Life, Goethe
"Distraction...is the best kind of popular philosophy - popular...in the real sense of the word, owing to its overriding,
passionate concern with the business of living well, right now...in this world in front of our eyes."
- Maria Tumarkin, author of Traumascapes and Courage
"Distraction is Melbourne University philosopher Damon Young's playful, witty and down-to-earth guide to seizing the day."
- Rachel Power, author of The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood
Cricitism of Distraction
"Plato turned to philosophy in a quest for transcendence, which Young takes as a rejection of life and its humdrum intrusions.
I don't think this is right, because the everyday experiences of life...were the very stuff of Plato's Philosophy." - Financial Times (UK)
"I am sure that Young, broadly speaking, is right to cavil against the age of the distraction. Yet he failed to convince this
committed techno-sceptic. And without a convincing diagnosis of the illness, the therapy carries little weight." - The Australian
"The overall cast of Distraction isn't equal to the grand idea of the book. Flattening writers' lives into a digestible series
of underpsychologised set pieces isn't enough to make a compelling case about liberty in our times." - The Age
"He is not careful of distinctions and his indifference to conceptual clarification vitiates much of the book." - The Australian Literary Review
"Had he trusted his own insights rather than relying on those of others, Young might have ventured a bolder thesis." - Canberra Times
What does it mean to be distracted, and why?
In this insightful journey through the lives of philosophers, artists and great political thinkers, Damon Young shows how
rewarding patient, sensitive and thoughtful attention to the world can be. He suggests that the opposite of a life of
distraction is one of genuine freedom. Click here to read an extract in The Age newspaper.
Buy Distraction at all good bookshops, or online at Readings (Australia), Amazon (US), Amazon (UK).
Praise for Distraction
"Best Books 2008" - Australian Financial Review, BOSS
"Highly Recommended" - 2008/9 Summer Reading Guide
"In his lucid and optimistic book, Damon Young encourages us to tame the distractions that are pointless, and nurture those
that are good." - Financial Times (UK)
"This author makes 'dancing' with the philosophic and artistic masters...enjoyable even though one may be tone-deaf to the
music and not know the steps." - Bookseller + Publisher magazine
"Young communicates ideas with enthusiasm and a genuine emotional connection to his subjects, their triumphs and frailties.
He is a talent." - The Australian
"Damon Young's Distraction...takes up the perennial theme of individual liberty and does something with it very much along the
lines of Alain de Botton or John Armstrong." - The Age
"His voice is an amiable presence, the writing is lively and sometimes very fine." - The Australian Literary Review
"He is a punchy writer, with a gift for turning complex ideas into readable, entertaining stories." - Canberra Times
"This warm and witty book does something wonderful: it brings the great ideas of philosophy into our lives. Young is a
bright new voice." - John Armstrong, author of The Secret Power of Beauty and Love, Life, Goethe
"Distraction...is the best kind of popular philosophy - popular...in the real sense of the word, owing to its overriding,
passionate concern with the business of living well, right now...in this world in front of our eyes."
- Maria Tumarkin, author of Traumascapes and Courage
"Distraction is Melbourne University philosopher Damon Young's playful, witty and down-to-earth guide to seizing the day."
- Rachel Power, author of The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood
Cricitism of Distraction
"Plato turned to philosophy in a quest for transcendence, which Young takes as a rejection of life and its humdrum intrusions.
I don't think this is right, because the everyday experiences of life...were the very stuff of Plato's Philosophy." - Financial Times (UK)
"I am sure that Young, broadly speaking, is right to cavil against the age of the distraction. Yet he failed to convince this
committed techno-sceptic. And without a convincing diagnosis of the illness, the therapy carries little weight." - The Australian
"The overall cast of Distraction isn't equal to the grand idea of the book. Flattening writers' lives into a digestible series
of underpsychologised set pieces isn't enough to make a compelling case about liberty in our times." - The Age
"He is not careful of distinctions and his indifference to conceptual clarification vitiates much of the book." - The Australian Literary Review
"Had he trusted his own insights rather than relying on those of others, Young might have ventured a bolder thesis." - Canberra Times