All About Love: New Visions
Bell Hooks
I got interested in this book because it was discussed in an episode of “The Radical Bureaucrat” podcast, talking about the role of love (writ large, not romance) in the workplace. Overall, I thought it was fine, but found it a bit disappointing. I basically agreed with a lot of what hooks said, but also felt the book didn’t bring me any new insights or revelations. I thought she spent too much time describing arguments made in other self-help books, and wished she had spent more time talking about her own ideas or her own personal experience. From what she does say, she sounds like quite an unusual person (who, for example, is willing to say things to other people in social situations that many would shy away from bringing up). I thought the strongest insight in the book was hooks’s exploration of how the system of patriarchy makes love more difficult for everyone involved–both those oppressed by it and those who benefit from it.