Selfie
How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
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Selfie
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Narrated by:
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Jack Hawkins
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By:
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Will Storr
About this listen
We live in the age of the individual.
We are supposed to be slim, prosperous, happy, extroverted and popular. This is our culture's image of the perfect self. We see this person everywhere: in advertising, in the press, all over social media. We're told that to be this person, you just have to follow your dreams, that our potential is limitless, that we are the source of our own success.
But this model of the perfect self can be extremely dangerous. People are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy. Unprecedented social pressure is leading to increases in depression and suicide. Where does this ideal come from? Why is it so powerful? Is there any way to break its spell?
To answer these questions, Selfie takes us 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 hyperindividualistic neoliberalism in which we live now.
It tells the extraordinary story of the person we all know so intimately - our self.
Exclusive to the audiobook, Selfie includes a unique 15-minute interview with the author, Will Storr, and reader, Jack Hawkins.
©2017 Will Storr (P)2017 Macmillan Digital AudioCritic Reviews
What listeners say about Selfie
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matt Fritsch
- 30-06-2019
not sure about the impersonations
great story and important points raised but some times for completely distracted by Jack (the voice) stepping into character for protagonists' quotes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr. Jeannette Kavanagh
- 17-12-2017
Great to contextualise our epidemic of narcissism
I've now listened to this several times. I first heard Will Storr being interviewed on Australian radio on Life Matters. Loved the ideas and bought the book. Then the audible. It is so under-stated and clearly argued with an almost detective novel feel to it. Meaning that it's a page turner. Not trivial, Will. I use Will Storr's ideas with clients in my Psychotherapy practice to let them know the truth. The relentless quest for perfection is a chimera and an unachievable goal/dream. More than that, it can create so much unhappiness. Let's get on the self-acceptance path. Which as Mr Storr argues, is not about resignation and accepting 'less than', so much as it is about a compassionate acknowledgment that to be human is to be un-perfect.
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1 person found this helpful