The Shape of Difficulty: A Fan Letter to Unruly Objects | Agenda Bookshop Skip to content
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
A01=Bret L. Rothstein
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Bret L. Rothstein
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=ABA
Category=H
Category=WDK
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch

The Shape of Difficulty: A Fan Letter to Unruly Objects

English

By (author): Bret L. Rothstein

What is it about puzzles that drives us to figure them out? In this unique and innovative book, Bret L. Rothstein explores how mechanical problems delight and frustrate us, distracting our attention from recognizably useful activities and directing it toward something that may be even more important.

All too often puzzles can seem like some kind of cruel test to be beaten or passed. But according to Rothstein, they really want nothing more than for us to drop what we are doing and play. In that way, they can actually enhance consciousness, as we are perhaps never more aware than when we grapple with an object that refuses to satisfy our expectations. The Shape of Difficulty is an ode to and exploration of these unruly objectsRubik's cubes, geometric dissections, secret-opening boxes, string disentanglements, and so many morethat bring interpretive failure out of the shadows and allow it to take center stage in physical ways. While many puzzles may offer perceptible expressions of mathematical concepts, logical propositions, and logistical problems, this book urges readers to dwell for a while with objects that, built specifically to be misunderstood, demand that we reconsider our approaches to understandingand, in the bargain, how we conceive of the interpretive self.

Drawing on landmark theories of play, Rothsteins richly illustrated meditation on our fascination with objects reveals the lasting allure of puzzles while underscoring the intellectual worth of doubt, failure, and idle time.

See more
Current price €27.19
Original price €31.99
Save 15%
A01=Bret L. RothsteinAge Group_UncategorizedAuthor_Bret L. Rothsteinautomatic-updateCategory1=Non-FictionCategory=ABACategory=HCategory=WDKCOP=United StatesDelivery_Delivery within 10-20 working daysLanguage_EnglishPA=AvailablePrice_€20 to €50PS=Activesoftlaunch
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
Product Details
  • Weight: 930g
  • Dimensions: 178 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 30 Apr 2019
  • Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
  • Publication City/Country: United States
  • Language: English
  • ISBN13: 9780271082424

About Bret L. Rothstein

Bret L. Rothstein teaches at Indiana University where his courses address the cultural work of images and objects. He has published extensively on early Netherlandish devotional culture sixteenth-century humanist wit and the sociocultural ramifications of ludic objects.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue we'll assume that you are understand this. Learn more
Accept