As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes, and speculate on the profundity of its consequences, all in a manner that will have you sweating profusely and gasping for breath?

We live in a moment when the greatest act of love is to stay distant from the object of your affection. When governments renowned for ruthless cuts in public spending can suddenly conjure up trillions. When toilet paper becomes a commodity as precious as diamonds. And when, according to Žižek, a new form of communism may be the only way of averting a descent into global barbarism.

Written with his customary brio and love of analogies in popular culture (Quentin Tarantino and H.G. Wells sit next to Hegel and Marx in these pages), Žižek provides a concise and provocative snapshot of the crisis as it widens, engulfing us all

当一场史无前例的全球大流行病席卷地球时，谁能比超强的斯洛文尼亚哲学家斯拉沃伊泽克更好地揭开它的深层含义，惊叹于它令人难以置信的悖论，并推测其后果的深刻性，所有这些都会让你大汗淋漓，喘不过气来？

我们生活在这样一个时刻：最大的爱的行为是与你所爱的对象保持距离。当以无情地削减公共开支而闻名的政府可以突然变出数万亿。当卫生纸成为像钻石一样珍贵的商品时。而且，根据齐泽克的说法，当一种新形式的共产主义可能是避免陷入全球野蛮状态的唯一途径。

Žižek以其惯有的抖擞精神和对流行文化类比的热爱（昆汀-塔伦蒂诺和H.G.威尔斯在这些页面中坐在黑格尔和马克思旁边），对危机的扩大提供了一个简明和挑衅性的快照，吞噬了我们所有人。