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    Selfie by Will Storr Summary

    Selfie
    Will Storr
    3.92 (3708 Reviews)
    PsychologySocietyHistory
    Overview
    Key Takeaways
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    Overview of Selfie

    In "Selfie," Will Storr brilliantly dissects our obsession with perfection, tracing Western individualism from Aristotle to Instagram. Why are millions suffering from self-loathing in our selfie culture? Discover how neoliberalism and social media created a crisis of perfectionism we can't escape.

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    Best quote from Selfie

    “

    We're experiencing a profound crisis of selfhood, where the fantasy person we're failing to become tortures us psychologically.

    ”
    Explore Your Way of Learning
    Selfie isn't just a book — it's a masterclass in Psychology. To help you absorb its lessons in the way that works best for you, we offer five unique learning modes. Whether you're a deep thinker, a fast learner, or a story lover, there's a mode designed to fit your style.

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    Distill Selfie into rapid-fire memory cues that highlight key principles of candor, teamwork, and creative resilience.

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    "Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

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    "Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

    @Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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    "Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

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    Celebrities' reading list
    Elon MuskCharlie KirkBill GatesSteve JobsAndrew HubermanJoe RoganJordan Peterson
    Award winning collection
    Pulitzer PrizeNational Book AwardGoodreads Choice AwardsNobel Prize in LiteratureNew York TimesCaldecott MedalNebula Award
    Featured Topics
    ManagementAmerican HistoryWarTradingStoicismAnxietySex
    Best books by Year
    2025 Best Non Fiction Books2024 Best Non Fiction Books2023 Best Non Fiction Books
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    Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieGeorge OrwellO. J. SimpsonBarbara O'NeillWinston ChurchillCharlie Kirk
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    Key Takeaways

    1

    When Your Reflection Becomes Your Prison

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    Have you ever spent hours crafting the perfect Instagram caption, only to delete the entire post because it didn't get enough likes in the first five minutes? Or felt your stomach drop when scrolling through a friend's vacation photos, suddenly convinced your own life is painfully ordinary? We live in an age where a 22-year-old takes selfies at her godmother's funeral because, as she explains without irony, "I look good. It's always appropriate." This isn't just vanity run amok-it's the symptom of something far more dangerous. Behind the filters and carefully curated feeds lies a mental health crisis decades in the making, where the gap between who we are and who we think we should be has become a chasm swallowing lives whole. Hospital admissions for eating disorders among young women jumped 172% in a single decade. Self-harm reports doubled. Young men increasingly suffer from muscle dysmorphia, injecting steroids to match impossible ideals. The woman who woke up furious in a hospital bed after swallowing ninety pills had spent her entire life trying to become the person others expected-first her mother's version, then her husband's-always falling devastatingly short. Her story reveals the lethal endpoint of what researchers call "social perfectionism": the belief that others demand perfection from you, making your worth entirely dependent on fulfilling impossible roles. We're not just dealing with low self-esteem anymore. We're watching people destroy themselves trying to become fantasy versions that can never exist.

    2

    The Tribal Brain That Won't Let Us Rest

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    The Cultural Waters We Swim In

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    From Glory to Guilt: Christianity's Transformation

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    The American Self: Unlimited Potential, Unlimited Pressure

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    The Myth That's Killing Us

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    Breaking Free: Living With Your Actual Self