Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now (Current), by Douglas Rushkoff, cogently explains such afflictions as my "digiphrenia" (collapse of cause and effect).

• Author: Clinton, Kate
• Position: OUR FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2013 - "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks" and "Hope into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears" - Book review

Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now (Current), by Douglas Rushkoff, cogently explains such afflictions as my "digiphrenia" (drowning in info, but no rash) and my "fractalnoia" (collapse of cause and effect). According to Rushkoff, my symptoms stem from a collapse of narrative, since the old stories and mythologies don't work in the digital age. As an antidote to this dystopia, I could go full Amish, get off the grid, and call it a day. Or I could organize, like Rosa Parks and Penny Rosenwasser.

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Beacon), by Jeanne Theoharis, is a revelation. In this biography, Parks is disclosed as a civil rights activist of sixty years, not a one-day wonder, a meek seamstress with tired feet. "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in." Theoharis meticulously elucidates Parks's pre-civil-disobedience history with E. D. Nixon, the Pullman porter unionist; with Ella Baker, her mentor and veteran organizer; and her transformative time at the Highlander Folk School. After her famous stance, Parks became a symbol who was lauded but not consulted or financially helped. Impoverished, she moved to Detroit with her family and finally got a job in the office of Representative John Conyers...