Seen in this way, loneliness is inseparably linked with important human attributes: self-reflection and imagination. It is a terrible feeling, but also reveals your possibilities. At the same time, the price for the talent for experiencing loneliness is that you are painfully aware of what is missing from your current life.

Marjan Slob dives into the phenomenon of loneliness, entering into dialogues with philosophers such as Blaise Pascal, Daniel Dennett and Simone de Beauvoir. She finds, in literature, music and film, images that bring the concept of loneliness into focus. David Bowie plays an important role throughout her story: his transformations offer a helpful example of how to deal with the given of human loneliness with elegance and self-awareness. The Empty Sky is a consoling, agile ode to loneliness, written with a light, supple pen.