On (Hyper)Sensitivity

Sometimes it is the most trivial aspects of everyday that incite the strongest reactions in us – whether it’s the skin on top of a pot of milk, men in sandals, or the screeching of chalk on a blackboard. Everyone is familiar with such bizarre, absurd aversions; everyone has their own inexplicable hypersensitivities. Silvia Bovenschen approaches this phenomenon from a wide variety of angles: she distinguishes it from both disgust and pain, reflects on the relationship between idiosyncrasy and the act of popping out for cigarettes and never coming back, and has a go at portraying Switzerland as a nation of criminals. The result is an invigorating, entertaining, and intelligent book about one of the most significant trivialities of our daily lives.

»Silvia Bovenschen gives us the pleasure of exploring an underestimated sensory phenomenon with her skilfully and knowledgeably written book.« Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»On (Hyper)Sensitivity belongs to that small family of books one wants to read out loud rather than simply summarise.« Die Zeit