Better Living Through Bad Taste
Current Issues / Politics / Social Science
W. W. Norton
February 2027
ISBN 9781324089063
Hardcover, 0 pages

A philosophy professor explains why our “guilty pleasures” aren’t mere indulgences, but a secret path to a good life. Trash: You know it when you see it―the cheesy reality show, the made-for-TV movie, the garbage disdained by people of good taste. But philosopher Matthew Strohl argues that “good taste” might be a trap that narrows our horizons and mutes the expressive power of our own unique preferences. Instead, Strohl encourages us to nurture our weirdest curiosities and explore the liberating potential of the most unlikely aesthetic realms. An alluring connoisseur of cultural refuse, Strohl examines the bargain-bin cinema of Eric Roberts (the most prolific American film actor), spa music, spicy werewolf novels, Minnesota hot dish, and Lifetime movies. Deftly gesturing to thinkers like Pierre Bourdieu, Nick Riggle, and Alexander Nehamas, Strohl celebrates the “cardinal virtues of trash”―including curiosity, openness, humility and authenticity―and suggests that by journeying into the uncharted wasteland of bad taste, we might just find a path to self-actualization. More/less