How To Disappear

More about the book

Vivid, surprising, and timely, Akiko Busch's exploration of invisibility in nature, art, and science seeks a more joyful way of living in today's surveilled, publicity-obsessed world. In our image-saturated lives, the allure of disappearing feels both enchanting and fanciful. We face relentless pressure to reveal, share, and self-promote, driven by technology companies eager to profit from our behaviors. Busch, a lifelong observer of nature, examines her unease with this constant scrutiny and the widespread longing for a less examined existence. Through rich, painterly detail, she reflects on her life, family, and exotic places—from the Cayman Islands to Iceland—celebrating the pleasures of being unseen. She dramatizes various ways of disappearing, from virtual reality that tricks the wearer into feeling invisible to Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, who experiences a flicker of personhood in her later years. With sensitivity and incisiveness, Busch engages with both contemporary and timeless subjects. This unique work is a shimmering collage of poetry, cinema, memoir, and myth, challenging the modern assumption that fame and visibility equate to success and happiness.