Selfie

Resumen del libro

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 hyper-individualistic neoliberalism in which we live now.

It tells the extraordinary story of the person we all know so intimately - our self.

Biografía del autor

Novelista y periodista. Editor colaborador de la revista Esquire y de GQ Australia. Sus premiados documentales radiofónicos se han emitido en BBC World. Ha sido nombrado Nuevo Periodista del Año y Escritor de Reportajes del Año, y ha ganado un premio del Club Nacional de Prensa por su excelencia. En 2012 recibió el premio One World Press y el premio de Amnistía Internacional por su trabajo para The Observer sobre la violencia sexual contra los hombres. Imparte clases de narración popular en Londres y ha sido invitado a presentar su taller Science of Storytelling en todo el mundo.