Limbo

by Dan Fox

In a world that demands faith in progress and growth, LIMBO is a companion for the stuck, the isolated, delayed, stranded, and trapped. Fusing family memoir with a meditation on creative block, depression, solitude, class, place and the intractable politics of our present moment, Dan Fox draws upon his experiences as a writer to consider the role that fallow periods and states of impasse play in art and life. LIMBO is an essay about getting by when you can't get along, employing a cast of artists, exiles, ghosts, hermits and sailors - including the author's older brother who, in 1985, left England for good to sail the world - to reflect on the creative, emotional and political consequences of being stuck, and how these are also crucial to our understanding of inspiration, flow and productivity. From Thomas Aquinas to radical behavioural experiments, from creative constraints to the social horrors of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and Get Out's SUNKEN PLACE, LIMBO argues that there can be no growth without stagnancy, no movement without inactivity, and no progress without refusal.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Art

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2018

About the author

Dan Fox is a writer, musician, and co-editor of frieze magazine, Europe’s foremost magazine of art and culture. He is based in New York.

Reviews

[Lucinda Garza Zamarripa · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sé cómo habría sido esta experiencia de lectura en otro momento de mi vida, pero ahora mismo se sintió extremadamente atinada.

Estoy en un limbo que se ha sentido interminable, por eso acudí a este libro, porque necesitaba compañía. La diversidad de referencias, el ir y venir entre historias personales y ajenas, las reflexiones sobre lo vasto de océano, para mí, todo se sintió correcto en medio de la incertidumbre.

[Tommi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and enjoyable read, but not necessarily one that has a lasting impact. In fact, the more I think about it the more I have things to criticize: sometimes Fox’s survey of limbo seems as if he did an OED search on the word, resulting in semi-heavy namedropping including quotes from the likes of Dante, Coleridge, and Milton without going any deeper into the matter. (Full list of references is provided in the back of this slim volume, and it is a pretty heavy list. The author’s previous book deals explicitly with pretentiousness, so maybe it’s deliberate. I should read that book.) Many things were interesting here, but I’m not sure how they connected thematically to the concept of limbo – often it seemed more of a stretch. Plus, there was one really cringy moment where the author describes the home of some rich literary acquaintance in – guess where – New York, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out any other meaning for this paragraph than that the author wanted the reader to know that he has such an acquaintance. But there were good bits too: I especially enjoyed reading about his experiences of travelling on a container ship. But now that I think about it, even that is a rather stereotypical narrative of male adventure. Where am I with this book? Three stars for now – I’ll stop now lest I lower the score any more!

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Limbo is a work born of writer's block. It sets out to explore the importance of inbetween states and interstitial spaces, providing along the way a brief cultural history of the concept of 'limbo'. Most interesting for me were the section about ghosts (of course) and the section about the limbo dance, which explains its origins. Traditionally it was a funeral dance, performed at wakes in Trinidad and Tobago during the 19th century; it's said to have originated on slave ships travelling between Africa and the Americas.

Fox links his musings on limbo together with stories about his older brother Karl, who left home to sail the world in 1985 and has rarely revisited the UK since. These were less enjoyable for me. I feel a bit bad about saying so, as they're obviously personal to the author. But I didn't feel they were as clearly connected to the idea of limbo as Fox seemed to think, or especially interesting in their own right. More compelling is the story of Fox embarking on his own journey across the seas – as a passenger on a cargo ship.

Overall it's interesting but not terribly illuminating, and didn't quite manage to convince me that it needed to be a book rather than a feature-length essay in a magazine or online.

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[Shaye Easton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, lightly-interesting kind of read, like a TV documentary you put on while you do your housework. It regurgitated a lot of information about the idea of 'limbo' and other transitional or in-between things, but failed to find its own voice. What does Dan Fox make of limbo? I couldn't tell you. One of my high school English teachers was in my ear the entire time: "You introduce a point, you give your evidence, and then you explain it. You make the point your own." From Fox we get lots of points, lots of evidence, but no explanations, no fresh ideas. Limbo is in essence a long-winded Wikipedia article bogged down by vaguely related anecdotes and footnotes which have been wrongly taken out of the feet of the article and dressed up as the body.

[sevdah]

Let it be noted I realize that reading this essay on being in limbo, in nothingness, in writer's block, is the worst to read back to back with a book of essays on curiosity. It just makes it way too easy to realize that the complete antidote to limbo is getting very curious about something outside of yourself, if you, uh, are able to. However, I think I judged the book on its own, frustrations left aside; boredom is also something that needs to be written about; but is it bad that I was craving it was written about a bit more interestingly? I get it's about being in-between, about not-knowning, but I don't want a book on being in limbo to bore me - I've got my own boredom to do that to me - I want it to fascinate me, to give me more.

[chester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appropriately, it took me well over a month to read this slim volume, including weeks at a time when I wouldn't even touch the book. That is not because I didn't enjoy it but because I was deep into a run of fiction.

I enjoyed the fact that "Limbo" is 75% diversion and 25% focus on the subject; that very much feels like my life, and maybe life for a lot of us in the 21st century global north. There are always things to do, and not enough focus to get them done. Or time. Or interest. Or materials. Projects are begun and after hours/days/weeks grind to a halt and enter limbo. Book are started and re-shelved with a bookmark indicating where you will be completely lost, should you ever restart reading.

In the closing pages, Dan Fox writes about deracination, which is something I experience; how returning to the place you are from is like stepping into the metaphorical ever-changing river. (He doesn't use this metaphor. He's smarter than I am.)

Now I'm interested in Mr Fox's other writings; I enjoyed my time in his company.

[Zoe Hannay · Rating 3 out of 5]

this could've been twice as long / as great. it too casually & shallowly references really great works and i wish he'd got a bit more rigorous with the intertextuality OR been more sparing about who he invoked, so much going on here but w too little resonance or depth, too bad because i really liked the exposition about the Headington shark

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audiobook hoping that I might have some sort of revelation about post grad life, and this is not that type of book, but it’s also not really about anything.. it felt like listening to a poorly executed dissertation where the writer has clearly done a lot of research and has references but not really anything to add to them, just sort of plonking them in. Maybe if I’d read as a book and there was more physical blocks between chapters it would make more sense but there really just was no flow at all between different aspects or examples of limbo, just like anecdotes being like my brother was on a boat… I once was stuck in some famous *totally irrelevant just name dropping* writers garden. Listening as an audiobook there was these weird music interludes made by the author himself which I think was to do with what limbo would sound like but it really didn’t add very much at all, and quite a lot of them were pretty bad. I was feeling generous at the beginning of writing this but really it’s revealing how much I did not enjoy listening to this and actually im not feeling generous anymore, I just spent the whole time kind of waiting for it to be over - I guess in that sense it’s actually pretty good at what it set out to do…

[Bagus · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Limbo” has entered the English lexicon through Catholic theology, in which it concerns the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. The English word is a borrowing from the Latin word “limbus” which means the edge, or boundary to the edge of Hell. Besides the Catholic theology, similar concepts with limbo also exist in various beliefs around the world such as “Bardo” in some schools of Buddhism which is an intermediate state between death and rebirth, or the concept of “Barzakh” in Islam which designates a place for transition between death and resurrection on the Day of Judgement.

Throughout this book of essays, Dan Fox attempts to analyse how the modern lexicon of “limbo” implies more than just the temporary state in the afterlife in Catholic theology. Limbo could also mean various states of “in-between” in life, while we wait for something to happen, never feel at home with the end result of our realities. Through carefully articulated sentences, this short book guides us through meditation to various examples of limbo, the most notable is the state of writer’s block that happens frequently to many authors when the states of their minds are in between nothing and producing something.

The audiobook that I listened to is narrated by Dan Fox himself. For an audiobook, this edition is delivered through a quite interesting format. In between the sections, there is music played to separate them and quotations are often taken directly from their own audio sources or read by another person. Overall, this is an okay book for me. There are already a lot of books that explore the concept of “in-betweenness”, and this is just an addition to the ever-growing list.

[Melle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for quarantine times! Since we're all in limbo

[Bert · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day we all find ourself in limbo. I'm in limbo too.

[Teenu Vijayan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Felt the perfect time to read this!

[Katrin Kirilova · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some pretty cool references in this book.

I think that the movie ‘Ghost Story’ (2017) by David Lowery is a great depiction of what being in a state of limbo is.

[Agni Guha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Connor Girvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 / 5 stars

[Davey Poole · Rating 2 out of 5]

not to be mean but this felt completely fruitless, scattered, derivative, and off the mark/prompt…

i felt no attachment or interest towards the memoir portions of the essay, particularly Carl’s dry little quotes and quips about yachting round the world, and the essay peaked only in quotation/reference to other writers and ideas

there was nothing enlightening about the experience of ‘writer’s block’ - ig that makes sense for a book born from the experience

it felt like something my ex will one-day write / quote @ me

now I know why Spiracle were giving this as a free audiobook - only finished it cus it’s so short but i should’ve just walked in silence smh

[J Kuria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't say I was particularly invested in the content but it was an interesting reading experience. More experimenting with sound in audiobooks please.

[Carolina Florensa Bello · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨ RESEÑA: "LIMBO"- Dan Fox✨.

¡Hola hola, readers!🤓📖. ¿Cómo estáis? Yo sigo recuperándome de la reacción que me dió la vacuna💉, he pasado un finde de mucho bajón 🤒🥴.
Hoy toca reseñita de otro libro que llegó a mí gracias a @babelioespanol. Muchas gracias a la editorial @deconatus por el ejemplar☺️.

"Limbo"es un libro de no ficción, reflexivo y muy filosófico. A través de sus 147 páginas, el autor explica lo que para él es el limbo a través del arte y la cultura👩🏼‍🎨.

👉🏼Me ha parecido muy interesante, ya que la metáfora que hace del limbo y del estado en el que muchas veces nos encontramos cuando no sabemos qué hacer o hacia dónde ir o si nos sentimos atados y pensamos que tenemos mil cosas que nos limitan, es muy acertada✅.

Es un libro que nos invita al autodescubrimiento a partir de la propia experiencia del autor. Y a pesar de no tener un hilo conductor como tal, no se hace pesado de leer ya que los capítulos son cortos y el lenguaje sencillo👌🏻.

✨Creo que es un libro que os puede gustar mucho si...
✅ Queréis un libro diferente y que os haga pensar.
✅Un libro para desconectar en verano.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este livro é o que acontece quando um escritor não é capaz de escrever um livro, acometido por uma branca mental. Dan Fox queria escrever um livro de viagens, mas sem ser capaz, acaba por se deixar ruminar sobre os estados de suspensão. Sobre limbos, sobre estados de transiência, num longo ensaio que oscila entre a erudição, o intensamente pessoal, e o não lugar do banal.

Fox fala de limbos, entre os religiosos, mas também dos banais do dia a dia quotidiano, ou dos momentos em que sentimos a vida em suspenso. Intersecta com algumas das suas experiências pessoais como viajante, e com as memórias do irmão, que recusa a previsibilidade da vida de classe média britânica e trabalha nos sete mares, sempre à procura de novos navios e destinos. Uma leitura deliciosa, por vezes tocante, por vezes erudita, que no fundo se resume a ser um livro sobre os pequenos e grandes nadas que nos acometem a vida.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Fox returns with another penetrating and subversive study into contemporary culture and its rabbit holes. His previous book, Pretentiousness: Why It Matters, argued the case for the much-maligned term in the art world, warning that anti-intellectualism is killing creativity. In his latest book-length essay, Fox considers the experience of feeling ‘stuck’—whether creatively, psychologically or spiritually—and its importance in the processes of art and life. Mixing frank autobiography with philosophy and art criticism, this slim book is brimming with ideas and overflowing with references, from Thomas Aquinas to Twin Peaks and back again. It comes as yet another strange and stimulating read from Fitzcarraldo Editions, a publisher whose output of experimental novels and revelatory essays are a refreshing presence on today’s literary scene.

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

a collection of memoir-esque sketches united by the theme of limbo, uncertainty and in-between. dan fox can write, and i will always recommend "pretentiousness and why it matters" to anyone, so obviously it was well-written with clever observations throughout. the part that was quite interesting to me was the description of his sea voyage on a cargo ship from uk to hongkong - all the sensations common to travel like this piqued my interest, as my grandpa was a sailor but never had the chance to tell me how it actually feels to be on the sea for weeks and months on end - so that was curious. eventually it will probably be forgettable. but not time wasted for sure

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Dan Fox's other work, Pretentiousness, its a cross-cultural kaleidoscopic examination of a word in all of its implications and connotations. They are both very fun and engaging to read, filled with breezy intellectual leapfrogs between realms of thought. That being said, Limbo could have a bit more thrust in terms of an argument or central point, it feels like it is engaging with a rhizomatic look at the idea of Limbo for it's own sake-- not that that is a terrible thing to do! More books should be fun intellectual quaffs!

[Iván Alanis Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llegué a este libro como muchos otros: por sentirme atascado en mi vida, suspendido en un espacio blanco, en un océano de aburrimiento. Aunque la obra de Dan Fox no es una solución (ninguna obra seria se tendría que presentar como la solución a algo), se siente como un gran apapacho. La anécdota personal del autor no solamente avivó mi amor por la literatura de mar, sino que me hizo sentir acompañado en el naufragio. Además, me encantó la lluvia de referencias del concepto limbo (gran herencia de Melville; regresamos al mar).

Definitivamente, una de mis lecturas favoritas del año.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

It almost has to be appreciated from a personal place of limbo, as the mere reference of many cultural exemplars of limbo won’t resonate with the secure or comfortable or plainly down-by-one. You must lose everything, or lose all mooring, to see that drifting off to sea is a trip you took with some acceptance of death. If you don’t find yourself grasping quickly to stay rooted in what you know, you’ll be searching yourself for new paths, and finding no purchase but the road itsef.

[Mason Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately I couldn't get very far into this one before deciding it's either just not for me, or it's just not the right time to read it. Too much meandering background and factoids about definitions of limbo, and not enough analysis and thoughts about it. The description led me to think it would get more into the connections between limbo, writer's block, and life but maybe right now I just don't have the patience to wait for it.

[Batuhan Baytekin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book delivers the idea or the definition of being in limbo, stuck, or having blocks successfully. The essay consists of a variety of topics that changes from memories to reflections from today's world. However, the change between memories and essays sometimes makes the book look like it's all over the place. Nevertheless, it was quite a different reading experience, and if we don't include going back and forth situations, it is highly well written. 3.7

[Roland Hassel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tre delar: de egna slutsatserna och betraktelserna, de referenser som får fungera som stöd till dessa, samt den (i dessa böcker nu kanske obligatoriska) självbiografiska inramningen. Tyvärr bara den första som riktigt fungerar; inramningen är aningens menlös, referenserna alldeles för många och för popkulturellt skojiga (denna ständiga Twilight Zone som väl ingen rimligtvis längre kan komma ihåg).

[Hanan Al Mahmoud · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was quite interesting. I don’t think I’ll remember much of it in a month’s time, however, I will remember that it gave me a very strange feeling of seasickness, especially when reading through the chapters onboard the boat.
There was something soothing about it, the way a documentary would be, but it also triggered some negative feelings, probably because I was reading it while I was in fact, in limbo, transitioning between two jobs.

[brisingr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that one of the moving things about all art is that somebody made it, and that they're not like me.

An adventure into the concept of limbo and its many uses, from historical, religious, social to the personal experiences of the author. Wouldn't be able to point more than 4-5 ideas in here, but I sure enjoyed the journey of reading this (and the writing style is really good as well). Expected something different, but I am not mad at what I got.

[Leo Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly surface-level, internet-search treatment of limbo. Not a criticism in this instance. The writing is breezy but interesting and there are a lot of factoids compiled here that I really enjoyed reading about, so those together make this a success for me. It was a pleasant and fun experience that used accessible pieces of information to stoke my thoughts about limbo, stability, and the concept of home. Thanks, Dan Fox!