Pánico y ternura

“Where is tenderness? In the one who receives it or in the one who gives it? Is it an ideal or does it demand a body?” asks Chilean philosopher Paz López in the pages of this illuminating book. Drawing on her childhood memories, stories by authors like Susan Sontag, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Sylvia Plath, and a keen eye on the present, the author explores with lucidity and sensitivity how to confront a world riddled with pain, violence, and intolerance through a seemingly simple feeling like tenderness. Far from being a refuge or a form of calm, tenderness allows us to feel more intensely: it appears in relationships—even the most damaged or broken ones—and makes us aware of something fundamental: our shared fragility.