A COSMOPOLITAN LAWYER: JUST SOME READINGS I HAVE ENJOYED LATELY

First, this blog replaces my previous blog, thecosmoplitanlawyerblogspot.com . Second, unlike that earlier blog, the present one is primarily meant as a record of my readings. It is not meant to suggest that others will be or should be interested in what I read. And third, in a sense, it is a public diary of one who is an alien in his own American culture. A person who feels at home just about anywhere, except in his birthplace . . . America.

Monday, May 4, 2015

JUST AN EDDY IN THE STREAM OF IMMEMORIAL LIFE"

Frederic Gros, A Philosophy of Walking, translated from the French by John Howe (London & New York: Verso, 2014) ("What I mean is that by walking you are not going to meet yourself. By walking you escape from the very idea of identity, the temptation to be someone, to have a name and a history. Being someone is all very well for smart parties where everyone is telling their story, it's all very well for psychologists' consulting rooms. But isn't being someone also a social obligation which trails in its wake--for one has to be faithful to the self-portrait--a stupid and burdensome fiction? The freedom in walking lies in not being anyone; for the walking body has no history, it is just an eddy in the stream of immemorial life." Id. at 6-7. Also see Lauren Elkin, "Best Food Forward," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 12/21/2014.).