Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations is one of the most compelling analysis works on western culture that I have ever read.
Picking it up by accident for 50 cents at a book rack in a thrift store, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. Quite simply, it's a national-scale self-help book saying, "Shut up, sit down, stop demanding bread and circuses, and stop being so self-absorbed."
From sports to politics, Christopher Lasch leads us on an inspection tour of our collapsing society, and he makes a compelling case that the disease is simple to understand; it is our demand that we be entertained and "understood" that is making us weak and crippling us.
Huh. Go figure.
