• The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

  • A Contrivance of Horror
  • By: Thomas Ligotti
  • Narrated by: Eric Martin
  • Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (446 ratings)

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The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

By: Thomas Ligotti
Narrated by: Eric Martin
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Publisher's summary

"There is a signature motif discernible in both works of philosophical pessimism and supernatural horror. It may be stated thus: Behind the scenes of life lurks something pernicious that makes a nightmare of our world."

His fiction is known to be some of the most terrifying in the genre of supernatural horror, but Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction book may be even scarier. Drawing on philosophy, literature, neuroscience, and other fields of study, Ligotti takes the penetrating lens of his imagination and turns it on his audience, causing them to grapple with the brutal reality that they are living a meaningless nightmare, and anyone who feels otherwise is simply acting out an optimistic fallacy.

At once a guidebook to pessimistic thought and a relentless critique of humanity's employment of self-deception to cope with the pervasive suffering of their existence, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race may just convince listeners that there is more than a measure of truth in the despairing yet unexpectedly liberating negativity that is widely considered a hallmark of Ligotti's work.

©2018 Thomas Ligotti (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

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What listeners say about The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

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A liturgy of the hours to endure being.

I found myself reading particular phrases aloud to myself much as one speaks prayers to soothe anxiety.

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3 people found this helpful

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can you handle the truth?

nihilism is for wimps. try this for a world view. I appreciate the struggle ligotti must have had to get these words in realm of the physical.

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A viewpoint more than an explanation

I "enjoyed" this book, though not in the way I usually enjoy things. I thought using pessimism as a lens for interpreting Buddhism and literature was great. I don't think it gave a clear answer to "what is pessimism and why might one subscribe to that belief", but maybe it did and I was unable to face it. It's a huge bummer, though, and I don't recommend reading it.

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6 people found this helpful

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spectacular

the narrator enhanced the prose so well. I will be starting it over again immediately.
thank you.

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yikes

The narrator, his voice a strangely soothing blend of Carl Sagan and Rod Serling, is the perfect delivery device for this morbid material. No light summer read, this -- Iistened to it four times. I didn't know whether to feel horrified or amused, so -- paradoxically -- I did both!

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the soliloquy of the suffering songstress

we are all but a moment in the void that is space and time.

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cosmic b!tch of life - love it

Will need to relisten! A bit heavy to listen to at work to be honest haha.

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Definitely put a smile on my face....

Definitely gonna listen to it again. Perhaps thrice. Wasn't expecting such optimistic pessimism portrayed in words....

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Dope

More time is spent critiquing other philosophers than composing philosophy, but it's reasonable. Life is an insidious and humorless joke. Let's explore that fact.

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Diss fella needs dug Jesus!!!

I’m kidding. This is a thought provoking and dread filled listen. Not for the overly sensitive!

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