Nonfiction Book Club

Join fellow readers at the library for an engaging discussion of The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes on Thursday June 12th at 1p.m.

Readers may remember when the hero of Homer's Odyssey had his crew bind him to the ship's mast and stuff their ears to avoid hearing the deadly song of the Sirens. Likening the mythological hero's struggle to our efforts to stay focused amid information overload, commentator and MSNBC host Hayes turns his attention to, well, attention. Noting that when our attention is concentrated on something, we necessarily withdraw thought from other ideas, Hayes depicts how competition to capture our attention is fierce and encompasses every aspect of our lives, particularly human interaction. Attention has become the most valuable resource in our information age. We crave recognition but settle for its less satisfying substitute: attention. Hayes observes that for the vast majority of our existence, humanity experienced life collectively. Now, our screens render us increasingly isolated. Despite having unfettered access to limitless information, we find ourselves inexplicably bored by excess. Hayes offers a timely discussion of the paradoxes we all encounter in a world clamoring for acknowledgement. Buckle up!

Copies of the book are available on Libby and may also be picked up at the Information Desk.