This is a beautifully written book that is uncannily relevant at this moment when populist authoritarianism is on ballot here in the US. Nomi writes about the aesthetics of authoritarianism and about the ways that pleasure especially through sound shape individual and collective experiences. She shows in the book and all of her work that while revolution and authoritarianism act collectively that the embodied experience is deeply personal.

The Ruth Stone Prize is awarded annually to recognize the most distinguished English-language monograph in the field of ethnomusicology, published as the author’s first monograph.