I just learned from Verso's new Zizek website that his presentation last Wednesday at Cooper Union was cut short due to a bomb scare. As I posted the other day, I was at the event, but I was completely oblivious to the impromptu terrorist threat. I assumed that Zizek's talk ended abruptly because he started about 40 minutes late due to the large turnout and that Verso and the Brecht Forum only had use of the auditorium for a set time period.
Slavoj Žižek, dubbed the ‘most dangerous philosopher in the west’ by The New Republic, was rudely cut short by a bomb scare as he spoke to an audience of 800 at Cooper Union last night. Expounding on his new book, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, Žižek was forced by police to round up his talk and exit the Great Hall along with his hundreds of fans.
Amid the kerfuffle outside Cooper Union as police and security guards made efforts to get stragglers out of the building --- several refused to be torn away from a bookstall inside selling copies of Žižek’s numerous books --- the renowned Slovenian philosopher continued his talk for a time, signing copies of his newly launched book.
First as Tragedy, Then as Farce is a call for the Left to reinvent itself in the light of our desperate historical situation. And in the aftermath of last night’s bomb threat, one line in particular from the book’s jacket is worth noting: The time for liberal, moralistic blackmail is over.
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