Acknowledgments  vii

Introduction. Trafficking in Five Obstructions  1

1. Embarrassment  33

2. Laziness  63

3. Slowness  95

4. Cynicism  127

5. Digressiveness  157

Conclusion. Sober Futurity  193

Notes  205

Bibliography  233

Index  251

"Whether identifying as academics or intellectuals, yoga instructors or closet fans of Tori Amos, readers of Obstruction are certain to discover that there is immense pleasure and great value to be gained from an absorptive encounter with Nick Salvato’s embarrassing, lazy, slow, cynical, digressive act of scholarly labour. As Obstruction reminds us: if it’s broke, don’t fix it." — Amy Holzapfel, Modern Drama

"Whether laziness or cynicism, it seems there is a way to utilize such obstructions for creativity and productivity, but only by embracing them as offering valuable constraints, and not by treating them as presenting obstacles to dissolve or overcome. Obstruction makes a clear argument for the use value of affect for cognitive activity, especially, creativity in thinking." — Karen Simecek, Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

"Whether identifying as academics or intellectuals, yoga instructors or closet fans of Tori Amos, readers of Obstruction are certain to discover that there is immense pleasure and great value to be gained from an absorptive encounter with Nick Salvato’s embarrassing, lazy, slow, cynical, digressive act of scholarly labour. As Obstruction reminds us: if it’s broke, don’t fix it." —Amy Holzapfel, Modern Drama

"Whether laziness or cynicism, it seems there is a way to utilize such obstructions for creativity and productivity, but only by embracing them as offering valuable constraints, and not by treating them as presenting obstacles to dissolve or overcome. Obstruction makes a clear argument for the use value of affect for cognitive activity, especially, creativity in thinking." —Karen Simecek, Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

"Joining gorgeous readings to new critical vocabularies and startling insights, Obstruction rewards the close and slow reader. And like the work of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick or Lauren Berlant, José Esteban Muñoz or Lee Edelman, it creates paradigms that, once absorbed, become difficult to think without."  — Jack Halberstam, author of, The Queer Art of Failure

"Offering a capacious analysis of the familiar blocks to creative and critical productivity, Nick Salvato models a cutting-edge criticism that remains alert to the significance of language and the ruse of intentionality. Obstruction is a provocative work and a pioneering venture in modeling a critical reading practice of the present."  — Tavia Nyong'o, author of, The Amalgamation Waltz: Race, Performance, and the Ruses of Memory

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