The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World…: Essays

There is a sad beauty about this book. The sadness is present, of course, because this is a collection of essays and interviews carefully pieced together after the sudden death of Graeber (1961–2020), an influential and original thinker and the author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years, among other works. In the book, Graeber’s words echo as it pieces apart themes of debt, democracy, play, care, the Occupy movement, piracy, puppets, police, and jobs deemed to be “bullshit.” This book is also beautiful, though, in the way these essays brim with surprising angles, unexpected perspectives, and a joyful interest in the world. Graeber’s abilities as an anthropologist, a professor, a nonviolent organizer, and an interpreter of anarchism all come together in a jovial prose that, even when one might disagree or not be able to catch the idealistic vision on display, strikes one as flowing from someone who would be enjoyable to argue with over a beer.