Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us Hardcover – 15 Jun. 2017

Will Storr is a delightful story teller. The theme of this book has been gaining currency in the past few years largely in connection with our reliance on technology and the age of digitalisation. Storr’s book focuses on the concept of our ‘self’ and how we have changed the way we conceptualise ourselves in this new age. He begins with a little history of our sense of self-worth and the trends in suicide. We are increasingly becoming ‘social perfectionists’, having greater, perhaps inflated, sense of our self and our capabilities as well as our responsibilities. But because Storr fuses interviews with relevant people, he points out that some, do not think that the problem lies in our becoming more social perfectionists but that it is our environment that is changing. He quotes Professor Gordon Flett: ‘In part, that’s because of the internet and the social media. First, when a public figure makes a mistake there seems to be a much stronger, more intense backlash. So kids growing up now see what happens to people who make a mistake and they’re very fearful of it.’ Storr examines the self in context. He seems to incline to the modern view that we are not the result of nature versus nature. He thinks nature and nurture are ‘not in competition, but in conspiracy’. He examines the fact that easterners and westerners do not just think about the world differently, but they actually see different worlds. Storr discusses the vanishing of the era of ‘character’ and the ‘arrival of the age of personality’. His chapter on ‘The Digital Self’ digs into the acute problems we see in politics in the past couple of years and the rise of populism. ‘To many on the left, immersed in the shibboleths of identity politics, these were outrages appeals to old fashioned racism, so obviously abhorrent that surely no sensible people would be able to look past them. Yet different ears heard a different story. They heard change-making outsiders scorning the establishment. They heard brave rebels disparaging the smug and ‘politically correct’ educated class who routinely ignored them in favour of minorities and then patronized and insulted them when they complained.’ Some readers may find parts of the book a little rambling, some stories a little too long or disconnected, but that is the style of this book – weaving stories and interviews with Storr’s own ideas. A reader who is irked by this style may give this book a three-star review, but otherwise, the substance is lucid and full of information and insight.

Interesting insight into how the western world has become so self obsessed. I bought it as I thought it might be useful for my teenage daughter but there was a fatalistic theme to it which I thought would be inappropriate for her. But for an adult, it was a well researched and interesting journey of discovery, uncovering some of the reasons why we are the way we are.

Storr writes extremely well, his book on the search for the self and the rise of narcissism in western culture is a good start. It is very easy to read and has huge number of facets, which some might regard as being overly rambling, drifting and lacking focus.The book tells us that there is not just one self but there are many selves all vying for control, and I am unsure why storr does not elaborate on this as a route to narcissism; suppression of the nurturing, loving selves and over expression of the aggressive, critical parts which conspire with an overly narcissistic culture. He completely ignores Carl Jung, whose work focused on these architeypes and their role in our behavior, Jungian therapists believe that some of these architypes are suppressed as part of our upbringing and socialisation and it is the role of therapy to reintegrate them - what Jung callled individuation or becoming whole. Reintegration is therefore about getting the various architypes to work together, rather than competing. I believe that had Storr integrated this into his book the direction it took might have been somewhat different. There is an interesting section on neo-liberalism and Ayn Rand which I believe is extremely valuable.

For understanding self-esteem this book is first-class, where the author really excels is the real life examples like the bouncer who finds god, and the Instagram superstar.The book loses momentum describing the self-esteem movement in the United States, but there's more than enough in this book to keep you reading

Full of information but written in compelling narrative form this book made clear the insidiously bad creeping feeling I was having about society and where it was taking us but weirdly made me feel better about myself. Exactly the opposite of what I expected. Well researched with enough personal insight to be interesting without self-indulgence, Storr is a gifted thinker and worth a read.

I just finished reading the book ‘Selfie’ written by Will Storr. The book is about our self obsession and the evolution of concept since Greek Period.2. He distinguishes between the Western Greek Notion of importance given to I or Individual as the pivot vis a vis more harmonious position of I or me in Eastern civilisation.3. He tries to show through his arguments that our over importance and obsession about desirability and possibility of a perfect self(not possible normally for most) expressed inter-alia through uncountable selfies is seeding in more and more dissatisfaction in all of us leading to fall in mental health.4. We have been told in last 2 decades particularly that all of us can be the best and the brightest and if we don’t achieve that, that means we have not tried well or that we did not do justice to our talent. This feeling only causes us to curse ourselves while the truth is that we all are different and less than perfect. We should accept our imperfect self also because happiness is not subservient to being perfect. Otherwise all rich and most beautiful would have been smiling all the day. We all know, this does not happen. Deepika Padukone(Google her image to see her beauty) suffered depression despite being a perfect beauty and likewise some top scientists and sports personalities have been in many controversies and even attempted suicides.5. So enjoy your grey hair and less than perfect Greek God like body and live happily with loads of empathy for your environment. Strongly recommended for any one trying to find answers to many questions we all are facing in present mad rush for perfect-self era.

Este libro recoge una presentación sobre una de las grandes obsesiones de nuestro tiempo: nosotros como centro de todo.A través de capítulos, va cambiando el ángulo de observación para exponer cómo hemos llegado a colocarnos como el centro de todo, individualmente.Quienes quieran entender las obsesiones de sus hijos con la imágen o el teléfono, la "necesidad" de consumir, o al ánsia de notoriedad, tienen aquí las explicaciones que necesitan.

Will Storr écrit d'excellents livres de journalisme. Dommage pour les francophones qu'ils ne soient pas disponibles en français!Une langue et un style clair au service d'une enquète passionnante: au delà du titre un peu bateau, comment s'est construit le concept du soi en occident? Le tout abordé sans lourdeur théorique mais par le cheminement de l'auteur à la rencontre de personnages et de lieux emblématiques.Je recommande très vivement!

I really enjoyed this book a lot! Very insightful.

Engrossing, interesting insights into our culture. A must read if you’re trying to understand what is driving our world today.

Excellent

I was expecting some kind of breezy survey of internet culture. It was instead a fantastic exploration of our changing understandings of who we are - history, psychology, philosophy - read like an Adam Curtis script at times. Will Storr is brutally honest in his self-reflections and superbly integrates them into a broader picture. Highly recommended

Selfie is an incredibly dense and information filled journey to a satisfying ending. Will Storr clearly did an immense amount of research for his latest book. Traveling through history he shows how various people and cultures have impacted the way we think and view ourselves. The journey has a lot of insight into the way we think.However, as a mental health therapist and a Christian, much of his views are lacking in depth and understanding of the complexities of both topics. Throughout the book he mentions therapy and alludes to Christianity being a factor in the way we think. His simplified versions of both topics leads to misunderstandings of both topics. Both therapy and Christianity are meant to be messages of self-acceptance regardless of our imperfections which is not reflected in his writings. Much to his admission at the end of the book, Storr has a lot of knowledge on the subjects but little depth and it shows. Though, in my opinion it doesn't undermine his overarching message.Regardless though, Storr concludes the book with a message of self-acceptance and hope. This message is definitely not aimed at accepting our strengths but rather accepting our limitations and weaknesses. Overall, whether or not you agree with his interpretations of certain topics, his underlying message is much needed in a time where perfectionism is the standard.

Coming from a culture (Iowa farm, 1930's) where conversation was polite and people cared for each other, I was not pleased with the frequent obscene language, mostly not needed to make the points. The various cultures described showed little caring and much competition, insults and aggression.As a long-time student of human thinking, I was not surprised by the negative effect of pushing "self-esteem." I learned more about how elite academia can be cruel. I have seen it in my own higher education, but not the extremes Storr described.First gap: The second largest "culture" in the world, an aggressive, intimidating religious-political world power that claims superiority of its people, based on unchangeable scripture, should have been included, though that would have brought much condemnation of the book. This left the book incomplete.Second gap: Though Storr included a Christian group noted for self-hate, he did not include mine.I follow Jesus. I don't need self-esteem, because I have Jesus-esteem. He regards me with wonderful value. I am a unique creation, with no other like me ever. My body is wonderfully made (as I saw in my study of medical biochemistry) and it is to be treated well. He fills me with compassion for suffering people. Working together, we accomplish much worldwide in relieving suffering and offering hope. We live with joy and love.We are human, capable of all he evil that can be imagined, and every one of us has failed. We have also been forgiven, regenerated, and seek to live above those failures, in the here and now presence of our Living Lord.

Impatient soul that I can be, wanting the answer and not being willing to wade through the thesis and analysis.....and, having heard some of the conclusions in the NPR interview, which led me to the book in the first place......I skipped straight away to the very end and was rewarded by Storr’s conclusions. I will now go back and leisurely absorb his work. Great job!! Worth every penny (Kindle edition).

Much of interest beyond the selfie and social media culture itself, more about how people's egos are fragile from the effect of marketing and ads over decades now, and the self improvement culture that expects perfection as the goal. Explains much about what can seem like baffling behavior, such as the rise in suicide among women of all ages the past few years.

im having a very hard time making it through the first chapter and reading lower star reviews here is beginning to confirm my suspicions about the rest of the book. this guys syntax and diction is all over the place. it reminds me of one big long article with lots of fluff in the middle. i found a sentence split apart by commas so many times that the paragraph it belonged to only had enough space for one more short sentence. though im sure the writer knows what he's talking about, my god does he like to talk about it without really talking about it. fluff on fluff on fluff on fluff

I loved this book. The title put me off so I stayed away from it for a while however, when marooned with it on a ship for 10 days, I discovered that it was fantastic! For those of us who have spent many years in the field of psychology, Will Storr points out the pitfalls of our heroes' theories and how it led us to today. Its an easy, entertaining read. Go for it.

Are you kidding me? Total, unredeeming BS (I would write it out, but I fear it would be censored), down to, and including, the “padding” of the three-and-a-half blank pages between each and every chapter. He sounded great on the NPR interview. On paper, there is nothing but vague ramblings related to Ayn Rand and her devotees, SAVE YOUR MONEY.

I was looking forward to a book that focused on what the title said it was going to be about...our current trend of self obsession with the constant photo taking and competition on social media via photos and recording oneself in various locations to improve one's social cred with others. Instead this book ended up being a rambling, all over the place disjointed and tiresome affair. In one chapter he's talking about monks. In the next, Ayn Rand. Then we are treated to page after page of his experience at the Esalen retreat in California where silly hippy exercise are employed to uncover your true self, supposedly. Then, more wandering chapters about politics and neoliberalism. Maybe someone else could have used all of these elements more effectively to tie together how they all relate to "selfies" and the average Joe sitting at his computer wanting everyone to think he's cool. The concepts the author compiles together are not reader friendly and not particularly easy to see a relation to with one another or what (at least I thought) the book title was promising as the subject to be explored. The book just goes all over the place. I guess I personally didn't see why so much time had to be dedicated to all of these sort of out dated subjects, these relics of mid 20th century thought. I wanted to hear more about life in 2019. More about life NOW, and how our celphone culture and social media has ushered in a platform that has completely and so quickly warped the adult mind, sending it crashing back to jr,. high school. Barely a mention was made of any of this, and I dont even think Facebook was mentioned once.That's what I wanted to hear about because that is what is going on NOW and part of my personal experience with this subject, not page after page of Ayn Rand and Esalen.Anyway, I am sure there are better, more focused and enjoyable books about what is actually going on NOW. It took until about 280 pages for the author to even start talking about selfies. And again, the 280 page build up to the subject to me wasn't even a very good history of how we got here. I ended up skimming and then jumping pages...not good.