Seeking Attention: 30 Ways of Being Present

by Dominic Pettman

A book depicting the intimate complicity between attention and identity. . . “You are what you pay attention to.”

Seeking Attention presents thirty insightful “portraits” of contemporary life—from “The Hypochondriac” to “The Self-Driving Car”—charting a roadmap through today’s media and technology landscape. Through these vivid sketches, Pettman examines how our awareness is shaped and contained by both the lifestyles we choose and those imposed on us, inviting readers to better understand their own behaviors and patterns of attention.

Drawing on philosophy, psychology, and art criticism, Pettman navigates the highs and lows of the “attention economy” and the “industrial distraction complex,” delving into how our consciousness is commodified and exploring ways to adapt and reclaim control over where—and how—we focus. With fresh insights into the vital role attention plays in both personal growth and collective well-being, Seeking Attention is an essential read for anyone interested in cultural studies, psychology, or the art of mindfulness.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

Dominic Pettman currently lives, works, learns and teaches in New York City. He is particularly interested in the ways in which "technology" influences our self-perceptions and cultural conversations.

Reviews

[Haxxunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good, the bad and the conjectural
—
This longform essay explores an urgent constellation of subjects—attention, surveillance and artificial (non/anti)intelligence—but the structure of the book fails to lift up its interesting conjectures.

First, the good: Pettman explores the idea of attention as a distinct way of interfacing with the world, of being open to what is happening, what is observable, what is recordable and transmittable. He gives examples of how he teaches this in his day job, what it means to give attention to the world in such a way, the personal consequences and qualities it engenders. He develops pen portraits of individuals and others and how they pay attention, what they pay attention to, the results of their paying attention. The key word here is others: not all who pay attention are human beings, opening attention to a species of machines and man-made sensors that also pay attention to the world, interfacing with it and interpreting it.

The bad: he gives us these pen portraits before telling us the real world context of what they are meant to explore. 90% of the book consists of short chapters concentrating on word pictures of human beings and machines that pay attention (particularly to human beings). Scintillating reading this is not; a good edit for readability (the basic function of a book, surely?) might have made this a five star experience.

Three stars

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

In seeking to pay attention to who pays attention to what,the book fails to pay attention to anything. These short vignettes read like 30 second tik toks and so embody the same fractured attention span the book tacitly attempts to critique. Of the author did what they described in their introduction and invitation chapters, this would be a more interesting read. Instead, the reader comes away reduced to stereotype, feeling less desire to pay attention to anything. If the book was truly ‘a book of portraits’ it would have got to the soul of a person. It would have lingered and inspired the reader to linger, too. Instead it offers the literary equivalent of a cheap Photo Booth - grainy, imprecise images that offer little more than vague impressions of a person with no soul.
The more impactful section is the last chapter - this holds the authors best attempt at authenticity (though the book calls into question whether ‘authenticity’ can even exist). I’d read this bit alone and leave the rest.
One personal take away: we become what we pay attention to and since I do not want to be like this book- shallow and reductive- I will pay it no further attention

[Lady Fancifull · Rating 2 out of 5]

“And your point being??”

I must confess I did not finish this book, as very quickly, I found myself wondering why the author had written it. It seemed to be a fairly superficial look at how different types of people, with different professions or roles engaged in, pay attention to, focus on, different things, and in a different way. And inevitably what we focus on will also have an effect on who we are., In our personal lives. The ‘roles’ we take on, as for example, as parents, carers or romantic partners, will also focus our attention in specific ways

So, for example, the policeman or detective is focusing on crimes being committed. Perhaps prolonged attention on miscreants begins to sour one’s view of humanity.

We could, the author says, view each of these ways or roles as archetypes, and choose to pay attention in different ways

The author attempts to avoid things being too dry by humour which felt rather heavy handed to me

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seeking Attention promises insights on presence, but what it delivers is a collection of loosely connected vignettes that feel more like scattered thoughts than a cohesive exploration. While some passages are mildly interesting, they’re often too brief to leave a lasting impact yet paradoxically verbose—using a lot of words to say very little. The result is a book that feels unfocused, lacking depth or a clear takeaway. If you enjoy abstract musings, this might appeal to you, but for those looking for a more structured or substantial engagement with the topic, it falls short.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dominic Pettman, and Repeater Books for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

[Jonas Baker]

Kinda cool but also feels pretty thin when it comes to overall assessments of types of people. Immediately dates itself in the introduction and sets itself up for feeling out of touch with the younger audience and how to (not to?) categorize people. Fun thought experiment, just don’t know that it pans out.