Hater

On the Virtues of Utter Disagreeability

By: John Semley

Narrated by: John Semley

A timely manifesto urging us to think critically, form opinions, and then argue them with gusto.

Hater begins from a simple premise: that it's good to hate things. Not people or groups or benign belief systems, but things. More to the point, it's good to hate the things everyone seems to like.

Scan the click-baiting headlines of your favorite news or pop-culture website, and you're likely to find that just about everything is, supposedly, "what we need right now." We are the victims of an unbridled, unearned optimism. And our world demands pessimism. It's vital to be contrarian - now, as they say, more than ever. Because ours is an age of calcified consensus. And we should all hate that.

In this scathing and funny rebuke of the status quo, journalist John Semley illustrates that looking for and identifying nonsense isn't just a useful exercise for society, it's also a lot of fun. But Hater doesn't just skewer terrible TV shows and hit songs - at its core it tells us how to meaningfully talk about and engage with culture, and the world. Ultimately, Hater is what we actually need right now.

©2018 John Semley (P)2018 Viking

Critic reviews

“[A] reminder that contrarian opinions can motivate us to think about what we’re consuming and what we’re taking for granted.” (Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW Magazine)

“Well-argued and warmly rendered...an unmistakable call for a new scepticism, a disciplined interrogation of one's own ideas and courage to express them despite the crushing pressures of conformity or indifference.” (Brent Bambury, CBC’s Day 6)

“In this clarion call to turn down the suck, John Semley turns up the good. Do hate the player, do hate the game, and do read Hater to do so decently." (Benjamin Errett, author of Elements of Wit)