On the Verge of Nothing: Pessimism’s Impossible Beyond by Gary J. Shipley


On the Verge of Nothing: Pessimism’s Impossible Beyond
Title : On the Verge of Nothing: Pessimism’s Impossible Beyond
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1735643831
ISBN-10 : 9781735643830
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 202
Publication : First published October 1, 2021

Gary Shipley’s On the Verge of Nothing moves according to a patient logic, asking us to consider what follows when we begin from pessimism, rather than arriving at it. Through Shipley’s ciphers – Nietzsche, Pessoa, Lispector, contemporary performance art – pessimism is illuminated as at once unliveable and unconsolable, and yet unavoidable. Reading On the Verge of Nothing , the primordial philosophical question of “how to live” now takes on contours that are colder, more detached, and yet, somehow, deeply engaged.

~ Eugene Thacker, author of Infinite Resignation


Beginning insistently with the end of thought, this panegyric of the pointless offers a withering post-pessimistic ethics and aesthetics of diversionary tactics for life in the void. Territories traversed include dreams and delusions, the limits and purpose of self-consciousness, human animality, and the paradox of feeling-thinking. Gary J Shipley’s lucid, often pitiless diagnoses; rigorous, informed, and tight arguments; bons mots and essential apercus – larded with a rich compost of quotation (Pessoa, Lispector, Cioran, Kafka, etc.) – pursue a relentless thrashing of thought, sketching both a Bartlett’s and a Baedeker of our inevitable doom. These essays, aphorisms, fragments, and quotations have been shored not against but amidst ruin. Experimental, exploratory soundings and performances, a fantasia for the end of the this word horde is an essential drug for addicts of the impossible.

~ Stuart Kendall, author of Georges Bataille


Pessimism is the tenor of our times, even if it is rarely fully embraced. Gary J. Shipley’s important book not only embraces pessimism, it offers a way to make life liveable not in the modality of morose resignation, but with enthusiasm. This is an achievement, even for pessimists who regard all achievement as ultimately futile.

~ Scott Wilson, author of The Order of Joy (from the Foreword)

On the Verge of Nothing: Pessimism’s Impossible Beyond Reviews

  • David Peak

    "Pessimism does not seek to replace the philosophical and religious theories that have so far sheltered us with their illusory structures, but only to undermine them to the point of collapse. There are no subsequent plans to rebuild anything new or improved from the rubble; for the rubble is already something improved, in that it is no longer the architectural lie that had arranged it to look like truth."

  • Lloyd Grady

    'On the Verge of Nothing' is a thorough and very referential study of pessimism as a philosophy. Two works of literature frequently referenced are, Thomas Ligotti's 'The Conspiracy Against the Human Race', and Fernando Pessoa's 'The Book of Disquiet'. When I find the courage to read these two books, I have the numerous citations bookmarked to guide and comfort me along the way.
    My favorite chapter was 'Pessimism and Performance Art: A Speculative Contract'. This chapter reviews examples of strange and extreme performances, such as Marina Abramovic's 'Rhythm 0' (1974), in which the artist stood in front of a table of dangerous objects, including razor blades and a loaded gun, and waited to endure attacks from the audience.
    I'm unaccustomed to philosophy literature and struggled to fully comprehend some of the analytical discourse. I spent too much time reading and re-reading pages with a speed of around twenty minutes per page. I appreciate the strenuous mental exercise this book provided me and feel like this will be an easier experience the next time I read it.