Selfie

Selfie is far more ambitious than its title might suggest: a serious (although funny) philosophical and psychological inquiry into consciousness. Storr has taken perhaps the most interesting subject (who we are and how we feel about it) and pieced together an overarching narrative from the latest neuroscientific research, smart reporting and careful selections of his personal history. It illuminates much of what feels peculiar about the world in 2017 . . . [Storr] has put in a formidable amount of work, he is irascibly good company, and he has something approaching genius for marshalling his material . . . This could be a pessimistic book. In fact, its insights are timely and welcomeRichard Godwin, Sunday Times

Storr has done huge amounts of research for this book . . . he conveys it with a gifted lightness of touch that is wry and funny (his investigative mode has been compared to those of Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux, with which I wouldn’t disagree) . . . entertaining . . . fascinatingTimes

As entertaining as it is provocative and disquieting . . . His breezy prose is bedded down in intensive research, much of it immersive . . . his closing thoughts can’t help but be comfortingMail on Sunday

An ambitious argument . . . Storr is an electrifying analyst of internet culture, documenting the rise of connectivity in prose that crackles with the energy of the early 21st century . . . an excellent antidote to time-wasting on social mediaFinancial Times