Do What You Love (And Other Lies About Success and Happiness)
A new book from COSM member, Miya Tokumitsu
About the Book
The American claim that we should love and be passionate about our job may sound uplifting, or at least, harmless, but Do What You Love exposes the tangible damages such rhetoric has leveled upon contemporary society. In Do What You Love, Tokumitsu articulates and examines the sacrifices people make for a chance at loveable, self-actualizing, and, of course, wealth-generating work and the conditions facilitated by this pursuit. This book continues the conversation sparked by the author’s earlier Slate article and provides a devastating look at the state of modern America’s labor and workforce.
About the Author
My name is Miya Tokumitsu. I write about things cultural for academic and non-academic audiences. In addition to academic outlets, my work has appeared in Slant Magazine, Jacobin, and Slate. I currently serve as a contributing editor at Jacobin. I earned my PhD in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. My primary academic area of interest is Renaissance and Baroque art in Northern Europe, particularly sculpture and print media. I have a secondary specialty in early German cinema. My non-academic publications cover everything from the Metropolitan Museum’s Alexander McQueen retrospective to that seemingly innocuous work mantra, “do what you love.”
Reviews
"With this punchy, sharp little book, Tokumitsu has done what might have seemed impossible: made labor conditions in the 21st century into a page-turner."
—Sarah Jaffe Dame Magazine
“Miya Tokumitsu’s short, sharp and timely new book, stabs plenty of pins into today’s increasingly freelance economy.”
—Joanna Scutts Monterey County Now
“Tokumitsu’s book is dangerous to the establishment...her critique of Do What You Love gives workers the language to talk back.”
— Amien Essif ALTERNET
Also recently featured in Forbes Magazine. What drives so many budding careerists to take on long hours with no pay and act like they love it? In a word: hope.
Read the Forbes Magazine article.