Existentialism

I’ll admit, I approached this with skepticism. Another existentialism primer? But *Existentialism* surprised me by feeling urgent, almost *alive*—like Hayes was writing directly to the part of me that’s exhausted by self-help platitudes but still craves a framework for the chaos. The Virtual Voice narration is a double-edged sword: its neutral tone keeps the focus on the text, which works well for Hayes’ clear, conversational prose. But in chapters tackling absurdism or death, I found myself wishing for a human narrator’s pause or sigh to underscore the weight of the ideas. That said, the pacing is impeccable—no section overstays its welcome, and Hayes’ examples (like comparing Instagram curation to Sartre’s “bad faith”) land with a satisfying *click*. My two critiques: First, the audiobook occasionally skims over counterarguments—Nietzsche’s critiques of nihilism, say—when a deeper dive would’ve enriched the discussion. Second, the Virtual Voice’s monotony in the final chapter (on creating meaning) ironically *drained* some of the energy from Hayes’ otherwise rousing conclusion. Still, this is existentialism for people who’d rather *do* something with their angst than just wallow in it. If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at “just be present” advice but still want tools to navigate modern alienation, this is your audiobook. Just maybe pair it with a human-narrated Camus novel afterward for balance.