Aaron James holds a PhD from Harvard and is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Fairness in Practice: A Social Contract for a Global Economy, and was awarded the Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, spending the 2009-10 academic year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He’s an avid surfer (the experience of which has directly inspired this book) . . . and he’s not an asshole.
“Convincing and often quite funny. . . . James neatly unpacks the
basic features of the most loathsome individual. . . . [He]
makes a rigorous case for why we should take the problem of the
asshole seriously.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“James’s keen intelligence overwhelms you, and you realize that
Assholes is helpful, stimulating, and very timely.”
—Nick Hornby, The Believer
“Enjoyable. . . . Light-hearted yet thought-provoking. . . .
Importantly, [James makes] us confront a crucial question, which, I
believe, we ask ourselves all too infrequently: How much of an
asshole am I?”
—Alex Balk, Slate
“James neatly does what philosophers must do: he defines his terms,
organizes and codifies, declares his own loyalties; he locates
himself on the spectrum of assholery and suggest origins both
psychological and sociological. The result is a delightful
combination of the demotic and the technical.”
—Harper’s Magazine
“James’s volume is equal parts philosophical meditation and
historical survey, but its true value lies in his attempt to
precisely define the term.”
—New York Magazine
“The times are right for a follow-up [to Frankfurt’s On Bullshit].
. . . James’s volume is in roughly equal parts a philosophical
meditation, a pop historical survey and a practical guide to
negotiate the treacherous rectal waters in which we swim; but, its
true value lies in his attempt to define the term precisely. . . .
In Assholes, he is doing more than poking fun at all the people we
like to despise.”
—The Innovation Journal
“Intriguing. . . . To put meat on the bones of his theory, James
names names.”
—The Chronicle of Higher Education
“Aaron James provides us with a delightful philosophical romp
through the world of assholes. I was especially tickled by his
analysis of different types: smug assholes, royal assholes, the
presidential asshole, corporate assholes, the reckless assholes, to
name a few.”
—Robert I. Sutton, Stanford professor and author of the New York
Times bestsellers The No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss
“[James’s] witty and accessible study of the personal and social
problems the asshole creates draws on his lucid and brilliant
accounts of the best in contemporary moral and political
philosophy. James’s analysis of asshole capitalism is a tour de
force of philosophically astute political analysis and criticism.
This is a book that should appeal equally to the general reader and
the philosophical specialist.”
—Marshall Cohen, founding editor of Philosophy and Public Affairs
and university professor emeritus, University of Southern
California
“A serious and sometimes whimsical treatment of a common
epithet.”
—Publishers Weekly
“James’ research is both thorough and imaginative; his impressive
source list ranges from obscure philosophy books to popular
websites to Rudyard Kipling to Kanye West, hip-hop’s greatest
asshole. The author’s enthusiasm for the subject makes it possible
to get through the book quickly. . . . There are moments of great
insight and outright hilarity.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Convincing. . . . It is in his chapter ‘Asshole Capitalism’ where
James hits his stride.”
—Maclean’s (Toronto)
“Persuasive. . . . The thrust of James’s thesis is timely. . . .
Energetically argued and provoking.”
—Literary Review (UK)
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