Selfie by Will StorrMacmillan, RRP $23.99
We live in an age of perfectionism. Every day, we're bombarded with the beautiful, successful, slim, socially-conscious and extroverted individual that our culture has decided is the perfect self. We see this person constantly in shop windows, in newspapers, on the television, at the movies and all over our social media. We berate ourselves when we don't match up to them – when we're too fat, too old, too poor or too sad. This cycle can be extremely bad for us. In recent years, psychologists have even begun to think that many people take their own lives because of the impossible standards that are set for who they ought to be.
Will Storr began to wonder about this perfect self that
torments so many of us. Who, actually, is this person? Why does it hold such
power over us? Could it be humanity's deadliest idea? And, if so, is there any
way we can break its spell?
To find out, Storr takes us on a journey from the shores of
Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, the encounter groups of
1960s California and self-esteem evangelists of the late twentieth century to
modern-day America, where research suggests today's young people are in the
grip of an epidemic of narcissism. He'll tell the strange story of the
individualist Western self from its birth on the Aegean to the era of
hyper-individualistic neoliberalism in which we find ourselves today.
Selfie reveals, for the first time, the epic tale of the
person we all know so intimately . . . because it's us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Will Storr is a longform journalist and novelist. His
features have appeared in various publications, including the Guardian, The
Times, Observer, GQ, Marie Claire and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a
contributing editor at Esquire magazine.
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