In Republic of Noise, Diana Senechal confronts a culture that has come to depend on instant updates and communication at the expense of solitude. Where once it was common wisdom that the chatter of the present, about the present, could not always grasp the present, today we treat "real time" as though it were the only real time. Schools emphasize rapid group work and fragmented activity, not the thoughtful study of complex subjects. The Internet offers contact with others throughout the day and night; we lose the ability to be apart, even in our minds. Yet solitude does not vanish; it is part of every life. It plays an essential role in literature, education, democracy, relationships, and matters of conscience. Throughout its analyses and argument, the book calls not for drastic changes but for a subtle shift: an attitude that honors solitude without descending into dogma. Outspoken, lyrical, and unassuming, Senechal's book dismantles the "groupthink" that pervades our lives.

Diana Senechal is an educator and author whose writing has appeared in The New Republic,Education Week,American Educator, and The New York Times. Senechal is the 2011 winner of the Hiett Prize and the author of Republic of Noise: The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2012), which was a Choice Outstanding Academic title.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Chatter of the Present
Definitions of Solitude
Distraction: The Flip Side of Engagement
Antigone: Literature as "Thinking Apart"
The Workshop Model in New York City
The Folly of the "Big Idea"
The Cult of Success
Mass Personalization and the "Underground Man"
The Need for Loneliness
The Practice of Solitude
Discernment and the Public Sphere
Conclusion: Setting up Shop
Bibliography
About the Author
Index