All the Rage | Granta

  • Published: 10/10/2024
  • ISBN: 9781783789450
  • Granta Books
  • 272 pages

All the Rage

Josh Cohen

Anger is all around us, from divisive social media arguments and heightened political divides to road rage and personal spats; from Black Lives Matter and climate justice movements to Trump, incels and white supremacists. When it materialises, it seems to cry out for recognition and response. It affects our bodies and can transition into violence. It can be inherited through the generations; it can manifest in criminal acts. What should we do with it, and can it ever be put to good use?

Drawing on case studies of patients, developments in neuropsychology, literature, philosophy and recent political events, acclaimed author and psychoanalyst Josh Cohen identifies the different forms of anger, including the most untrammelled and elemental fury, the more cynical anger that works towards political unrest, and the questioning anger of political protest. Rather than an emotion to ignore, he argues that anger is a primary human feeling. It maps itself onto every aspect of our intimate lives while politically and culturally shaping our world.

In a time of intense dissatisfactions and spiralling divisions, and with anger a dominating force, All the Rage offers a new and original understanding of anger, so we may better handle the rage within us.

I thought I knew a thing or two about anger, until I read this fascinating new book. From the Hulk to Diogenes, Trollope to Trump, patients to politicians, Josh Cohen opens up new vistas and ways of thinking analytically. Unputdownable

Lisa Appignanesi

Josh Cohen brilliantly investigates what is at stake when we are enraged

Deborah Levy

A comprehensive exploration of the uses and abuses of anger, and an indispensable primer for our times

Richard Beard

The Author

Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst in private practice, and Professor of Modern Literary Theory at Goldsmiths University of London. He is the author of numerous books and articles on modern literature, psychoanalysis and cultural theory. His books include Not Working (Granta 2019) How to Read Freud (Granta, 2005) and The Private Life: Why We Remain in the Dark (Granta 2013). He is a regular contributor to Guardian, New Statesman and TLS.

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