Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Christopher Schaberg is Associate Professor of English and Environmental Studies at Loyola University New Orleans, USA, where he teaches courses on contemporary literature and nonfiction, cultural studies, and environmental theory. He is the author of The Textual Life of Airports: Reading the Culture of Flight (2013) and The End of Airports (2015) and co-editor of Deconstructing Brad Pitt (2014). He is series co-editor (with Ian Bogost) of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons.Schaberg has singlehandedly invented the rapidly ascending field of airport studies.
Times Higher Education
Slim and elegant ... Schaberg has an intuitive way for us to cruise over this landscape of theoretical hills and valleys. He uses the first-person voice to recreate an average journey made by air.
Times Literary Supplement
<i>Airportness</i> is an insightful, witty guide to the ecologies of Earth’s strange new habitat. A Thoreau not of Concord, but of the concourse, Schaberg writes with boundless curiosity for the many layers of meaning and contradiction within the physical and mental space of airports.
David George Haskell, Professor of Biology, University of the South, USA, and author of The Songs of Trees and Pulitzer finalist The Forest Unseen
An enchanting, meditative journey through the cultures and ecologies of contemporary flight. <i>Airportness</i> unsettles places and processes that are often taken for granted, drawing us out into the simultaneously fascinating and disturbing webs of earthly possibility that are tangled up in the world-forming creature we call an airport.
Thom van Dooren, Associate Professor of Environmental Humanities, University of New South Wales, Australia, and author of Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction
With deep insight and a singular brilliance, Christopher Schaberg takes the reader on a journey from curb to curb, chastising us for our indifference to cloudscapes, rekindling our wonder for liftoff, asking us to reckon with airport as metaphor for late-stage capitalism, for American identity, for the last vestiges of faith, even, ironically, for what we call home. Part razor-sharp critique, part advanced elegy for a doomed mode of transportation, <i>Airportness </i>is finally a declaration of love for a threatened land(sky)scape, an imperative to remain awake and alive.
Pam Houston, Professor of English, UC Davis, USA, and author of Contents May Have Shifted
I loved this book. Exemplifying the enduring value of flânerie, Schaberg's insightful fragments cohere into compelling arguments about supermodernity as we go on a 'trip' with him through the well-worn paths of the contemporary airport. This collage of passionate vignettes, quirky observations and analytical musings made serendipitous connections I hadn't noticed before. His enthusiasm is as infectious as his observations are sharp. It was refreshing for these jaded eyes to see the airport anew. Highly recommended.
Gillian Fuller, Senior Researcher, University of New South Wales, Australia, and author of Aviopolis: A Book About Airports
A breezy read that describes a single-day’s journey through the seemingly routine but interconnected activities that characterize air flight today … One hope Schaberg has for readers of his book is that they will learn to be more contemplative and flexible as they roll their luggage through the Disney World-style lines on their way to meet the TSA agent with the blue latex gloves … Yes, airline travel is filled with mysteries and conundrums, but Schaberg offers a few tips. The maxim that tickets are cheaper if you fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays is usually true “but not always the case.” Pack smaller and carry on your bag to lower your blood pressure. Appreciate the craziness and the bravery of the Wright Brothers and other aviation pioneers, including Moisant, who gave their lives to create this amazing advance in human history.
Clarion Herald
A fascinating study exploring the peculiar state of consciousness created by modern air travel.
ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature & Environment
1. Preflight
2. Ride to the Airport
3. Curbside
4. Boarding Pass
5. Security
6. Walk to the Gate
7. People Watching
8. Attack
9. Waiting
10. Workers
11. Art
12. Gate Change
13. Gate Lice
14. Fishing Shirts
15. Runway
16. Holding
17. Takeoff
18. Window Seat
19. Sunrise
20. Armrests
21. New Planes
22. Airplane Reading I
23. Consider the Lavatory
24. Snacking
25. Initial Descent
26. Connection
27. Play
28. Sparrows
29. Twitter
30. Breakfast
31. 747
32. Colin Farrell
33. In-flight Entertainment I: Somewhere
34. In-flight Entertainment II: The Force Awakens
35. Airplane Reading II
36. Plane Sighting
37. Higher Still
38. Entanglements
39. In-flight Entertainment III: United 93
40. Old Planes
41. Gender
42. Water Landing
43. Arrival
44. Destination
45. Baggage
46. Exit
47. Home
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index