What is the meaning of “adventure” as we enter the third decade of the 21st century, after a global pandemic, social and geopolitical calamities, and accelerating environmental catastrophes? What stories are humans telling about wilderness, remote destinations, and the most difficult thoughts thinkable? Adventure is a pinball assortment of unexpected encounters. Each chapter entertains a specific project, fantasy, or activity that dabbles with adventure – and runs into limits. Subjects range from Mars exploration, commercial space tourism, and adventure consumerism, to the day-to-day experiences of living in a world increasingly impacted by climate change and environmental disasters.Taking a wide-angle view – at times personal, at others theoretical – Schaberg explores our ideas about adventure and their narrative, cultural, and philosophical underpinnings.
Christopher Schaberg is Dorothy Harrell Brown Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University, New Orleans, USA. He is the author of 7 books, including The Textual Life of Airports (2013), The Work of Literature in an Age of Post-Truth (2018), and Pedagogy of the Depressed (2022). He is series co-editor (with Ian Bogost) of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series.
Part 1. A Little Adventure Everywhere Part 2. Nowhere Else: Adventures in and out of New OrleansPart 3. Final Frontiers: Misadventures in SpacePart 4. The Ends of AdventureConclusionAcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex
This is a moment at which terribly serious issues confront humans everywhere. But, unfortunately, the very idea of seriousness is one of the issues. Most of all, we need a sense that the future can be different from the past. We need a sense of adventure. How to stay flexible, that's the key. We get paralyzed with seriousness. Schaberg has been showing us how to be playful for quite some time. Adventure is a playful book that lets you walk through it one step at a time, written by a maestro of meaningfulness.
Christopher Schaberg, Robert Bennett, USA) Schaberg, Dr. Christopher (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) Bennett, Professor Robert (Montana State University
Christopher Schaberg, Robert Bennett, USA) Schaberg, Dr. Christopher (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) Bennett, Professor Robert (Montana State University