The direct impulse for the undertaking was the experience of scientific work and exchange during the COVID-19 pandemic as a first-hand touch of the “poetics of disappearance” (p. 16). It is, needless to say, an experience with which the writer of these words deeply sympathizes, as most of the people nowadays probably do. Therefore, the book can claim a wide appeal, resulting not only from the topicality of its subject matter, but also the emotional affinity to the authorial perspectives in the book which its readers are bound to feel when reading individual contributions. (…) It is an inspiring book, in which many brilliant ideas coincide to offer a nuanced and complex view of what has become a defining feature of daily life of a large fraction of humankind. I am certain that it will be read with great interest by students and faculty in humanities and social sciences. The book tackles material which is international in reach and appeal, therefore it may be congenial to international audiences if made available as an e-book.

Marta Bucholc
Faculty of Sociology
University of Warsaw