Why read The Culture of Narcissism?

Book cover of The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations

Book description

When The Culture of Narcissism was first published in 1979, Christopher Lasch was hailed as a "biblical prophet" (Time). Lasch's identification of narcissism as not only an individual ailment but also a burgeoning social epidemic was ground-breaking. His diagnosis of American culture is even more relevant today, predicting the limitless…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Culture of Narcissism as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Eugene W. Holland

Author

Lasch’s critique of widespread culture-induced narcissism was recommended to me when it first came out by my mother, of all people. It hasn't held up well, but despite its one-sidedness, it still helped me understand the impact of capitalism on the Western psyche.

Although it covers some of the same ground as Richard Sennett’s earlier Fall of Public Man, I really benefited from the way it couched its critique in psychoanalytic terms, drawing on the work of respected analysts Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg.

From Eugene's list on The best books to transform Psychoanalysis from individual therapy to trenchant or revolutionary social critique.