'In these essays, Becca Rothfeld stages passionate duels between egalitarianism and distinction, abstinence and appetite, control and disproportion, and wins the battle, beautifully and eloquently, for the side of expansiveness and mess and desire' James Wood

Our culture's embrace of minimalism and uniformity has left our souls impoverished. Decluttering has reduced our living spaces to empty non-places; the mindfulness trend has emptied our minds of the thoughts that make us who we are; and the regularization of sex has drained it of unpredictability and therefore true eroticism.

In an age of oppressive sterility and limitation, All Things Are Too Small is a refreshing and much-needed tonic: a soul cry for derangement, imbalance, obsession, ravishment and disorder.



'Rothfeld is unexpected, intelligent, engaging - and clearly delights in her task' New Statesman


'Her range of reference - from Moby-Dick to Troll 2 - is immense, as is her intelligence, though it's all leavened by a wonderful sense of humour' Prospect, Books of the Year


'A carnival of high-low allusion and analysis . . . an exhilarating ride' New York Times