Writer Paul Kingsnorth Comes To Irvington Theater For Book Discussion

 Irvington Theater will present “Against the Machine” | An Evening with Paul Kingsnorth on Tuesday, September 30, an evening of intimate conversation that thoughtfully explores Kingsnorth’s latest work, “Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity.” 

In “Against the Machine,” Kingsnorth — the acclaimed English novelist, poet and essayist dubbed “furiously gifted” by The Washington Post — turns his literary and philosophical talents to the crisis of modern times. The result is a wholly original — and terrifying — account of what it will take to preserve our humanity. 

In his youth, Kingsnorth was one of the most powerful voices of the environmental movement, opposing globalization through both activism and art that was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. As he has gotten older, he has come to see the threats to our planet as part of a deeper spiritual crisis—an encroaching force which he calls The Machine.

Writing in the tradition of Wendell Berry, Jacques Ellul, and Simone Weil, Kingsnorth reminds us what humanity requires: a healthy suspicion of entrenched power; connection to land, nature, and heritage; and a deep attention to matters of the spirit. Prophetic, poetic, and erudite, “Against the Machine” is the spiritual manual from dissidents in the technological age.