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Selfie

How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing To Us

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Selfie

Written by: Will Storr
Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
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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, and flawless. We have become self-obsessed. And our expectation of perfection comes at a cost. Millions are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy. The pressure to conform to this ideal has changed who we are.  

It was not always like this. To explain how we got here, award-winning journalist Will Storr leads us on a "terrific tour through the history of self-obsession" (NPR, On Point) that explores the origins of this notion of the 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?  

Full of thrilling and unexpected connections among history, psychology, economics, neuroscience, and more, Selfie is an unforgettable book that makes sense of who we have become. Ranging from Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, to the self-esteem evangelists of 1980s California, the rise of the "selfie" generation, and 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.

©2018 Will Storr (P)2018 Tantor Anthropology Economics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Sociology Ancient Economics

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What the critics say

" . . . [P]lacing this symbol of millennial narcissism in a larger cultural story... Selfie traces selfie culture to the self-esteem movement." (The New Yorker)
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Like many, I thought this book was going to be about the impact of social media on today's generation of selfie-obsessed youth (and adults). Instead, it was a very thorough history of the psyche from Aristotle and the Greeks, to Freud, to Ayn Rand, and into the politics of the 70's and 80's through to today's selfie generation. While the history seemed long and tedious at times, I also felt it was that history that enabled Storr to come to conclusions he came to about today's selfie-generation. It was a clear path from the origins of self-esteem (undeniably important in a society of productive and happy people) to narcissism, which was then fueled intensely by social media and smartphones. Social Media didn't cause narcissism, narcissism has been a long time coming and social media only fanned the flames of something that was already in progress.
As someone who likes learning about psychology and sociology, I found the history and theories very interesting, and appreciated the line of reasoning from beginning to end of book. I found myself quoting the book or alluding to it in many conversations after I read it, so I must say it had a positive impact in my understanding of the topic.
I will say that the narrator was terrible. He sounded like the cross between an overzealous newscaster and an automated GPS voice. It wasn't so bad that I had to stop listening, but it sure made it tough to enjoy the book. Nonetheless, the writing came through strong and I'm glad I stuck with it.

very interesting but terrible narrator

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I didn't mind the narrator. the first few chapters didn't seem too relevant but it picked up and I enjoyed the book

pretty good

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