Allen Lane lands ‘pyrotechnic thinker’ Louisa Toxvaerd Munch’s debut
Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Press, has acquired Glitch: How to Think in a Time of Monsters by critical theorist Louisa Toxvaerd Munch.
Tom Penn, publishing director at Penguin Press, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights from Chris Wellbelove at Aitken Alexander. Allen Lane will publish the book in spring 2028.
Following “massive” international interest, the book has been pre-empted in North America by Ginny Smith Younce at Penguin Press, in Germany (DTV), Denmark (Politikens), Italy (Einaudi) and Spain (Ariel), and there are offers in Brazil and the Netherlands.
In this “dazzlingly original” new book, critical theorist Toxvaerd Munch introduces readers to some of the glitches that have come to dominate modern life and contemporary politics. In Glitch, she explains how to identify them, how to think about them and why that thinking is an act of resistance and a way to build agency.
Described by the publisher as “hopeful, inspiring and empowering”, Glitch helps readers realise that they can think beyond the ways in which they’ve been taught and encourages them to imagine a world that is yet to be born.
Toxvaerd Munch, who is a critical theorist, academic and content creator, said: “I am delighted to be working with Allen Lane on my first book. To know that I will be following in the footsteps of so many of the writers who have shaped my own intellectual journey is an extraordinary privilege.
“We are living through uncertain and chaotic times, and I hope that through this book we can offer readers a sense of clarity, as well as the tools to think critically about the world around them. Allen Lane has long been at the cutting edge of ideas that challenge the present and imagine new futures, and I am honoured to be contributing to that tradition.”
Penn added: “In Glitch, Louisa is doing something truly remarkable: showing us the importance of critical theory in identifying, thinking through and challenging the jarring contradictions of our age of crisis. It’s a book that not only cuts to the heart of our sense of powerlessness and confusion but offers us a way beyond it. Louisa is an exceptional new talent, a pyrotechnic thinker and bravura writer, and we are thrilled to welcome her to Allen Lane.”
