How well do you know your “self”? Was it formed at birth or shaped by the culture you grew up in? Is it good or bad? Can you change it? Is it something common to all of us, or infinitely varied? Is it possible that the self doesn’t really exist at all? Will Storr’s, Selfie, seeks answers to all of these questions. Taking the reader on a journey from Ancient Greece to Silicon Valley, via a Scottish monastery, a Californian counter-cultural retreat and the twisted arteries of cyberspace, Selfie is massively ambitious while remaining accessible and entertaining. It might even change the way you see the world . . .
We are living in an age of heightened individualism. Success is a personal responsibility. Our culture tells us that to succeed is to be slim, rich, happy, extroverted, popular - flawless.
The pressure to conform to this ideal has changed who we are. We have become self-obsessed. And our expectation of perfection comes at a cost.
Millions are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy. It was not always like this. To explain how we got here, Will Storr takes us on a journey across continents and centuries.
Full of thrilling and unexpected connections between history, psychology, economics, neuroscience and more, Selfie is an unforgettable book that makes sense of who we have become. As featured on Russell Brand's Under The Skin podcast.
'Fascinating' Guardian
'Brilliant' Independent
'Electrifying' Financial Times
