Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What it's Doing to Us

We live in the age of the individual. Every day, we’re bombarded with depictions of the beautiful, successful, slim, socially conscious, and extroverted individual that our culture has decided is the perfect self, and we berate ourselves when we don’t measure up. This model of the perfect self and the impossibly high standards it sets can be extremely dangerous. People are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy, and unprecedented social pressure is leading to increases in depression and suicide. Journalist and novelist Will Storr began to wonder about this perfect self that torments so many of us: Where does this ideal come from? Why is it so powerful? Is there any way to break its spell? To answer these questions, Storr takes the reader on a journey from the shores of Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, to the self-esteem evangelists of 1980s California, the rise of narcissism and the “selfie” generation, and right up to the era of hyper-individualism in which we live now. Selfie tells the epic tale of the person we all know so intimately—because it’s us.

About the Author :
Will Storr is an award-winning journalist and novelist whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Sunday Times, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. His books include Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed and The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (Overlook/Abrams Press). His writing courses are among the most in-demand offerings of the Guardian Masterclasses and the Faber Academy. He lives in Kent, England.

Review :
[A] free ranging account of the modern, ego-driven Western self. . . . A corrective, and a much-needed one, to a moment fixated on its own particularity. An intriguing odyssey of self-discovery. In this fascinating psychological and social history, Storr reveals how biology and culture conspire to keep us striving for perfection, and the devastating toll that can take. British journalist and novelist Storr takes on the ambitious subject of how people think of themselves. . . . The latest from the adroit, widely respected Storr. Captivating, self-reflective research on our culture of rampant egocentricity. This entertaining investigation is essentially a social history of the self, from earliest times (when we worked to increase our status within the tribe) to our current vainglorious self (hungry for likes and approbation on social media). Each of the seven chapters examines an aspect of self; for each of them, Storr, a lively, affable guide, introduces us to an exemplar, some familiar (Confucius, Ayn Rand, Donald Trump) and many more who are not. The final chapter offers Storr's counsel on "How to Stay Alive in the Age of Perfectionism." Step 1: try to set aside the current tribal propaganda and embrace your flawed and often unlikeable self. A timely, inspiring book about self-obsession in modern life. An ambitious argument . . . Storr is an electrifying analyst of Internet culture. An entertaining history of the self, from Narcissus to Trump. Brilliant. Storr has done huge amounts of research for this book . . . he conveys it with a gifted lightness of touch. Thoughtful and engaging . . . Storr's cultural history is fascinating. Storr continually delivers rich insights, historically grounded conclusions, and more contemporary deliberations on his subject's relevance to the Trump campaign and how to stay hopeful living in a me-first world. Captivating, self-reflective research on our culture of rampant egocentricity. It's easy to look at Instagram and selfie-sticks and shake our heads at millennial narcissism. But Will Storr takes a longer view. He ignores the easy targets and instead tells the amazing 2,500-year story of how we've come to think about our selves. A top-notch journalist, historian, essayist, and sleuth, Storr has written an essential book for understanding, and coping with, the 21st century.--Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Nix