Affluenza

(Paperback)

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Description

The paperback of the Sunday Times bestseller- Oliver James tours the minds of the middle classes in search of an answer to the question- is it possible to be successful and stay sane There is currently an epidemic of 'affluenza' throughout the world - an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses - that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. Over a nine-month period, bestselling author Oliver James travelled around the world to try and find out why. He discovered how, despite very different cultures and levels of wealth, affluenza is spreading. Cities he visited include Sydney, Singapore, Moscow, Copenhagen, New York and Shanghai, and in each place he interviewed several groups of people in the hope of finding out not only why this is happening, but also how one can increase the strength of one's emotional immune system. He asks- why do so many more people want what they haven't got and want to be someone they're not, despite being richer and freer from traditional restraints And, in so doing, uncovers the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you've already got. In other words, how to be successful and stay sane.

Reviews

Oliver James is excellent at showing why social scientists think that the surge in material affluence can produce the opposite of happiness. -- Avner Offer, Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford
Should be mandatory reading for everyone -- Will Self
Never before have I read a book that so precisely captures the way we are all being emotionally snookered by the demands of 21st-century living... read this book -- Jeremy Vine
A wonderfully clear and cogent thesis * Guardian *
An absorbing and effective wake-up call * London Lite *

Author Bio

Oliver James trained and practised as a child clinical psychologist and, since 1987, has worked as a writer, journalist and television documentary producer and presenter. His books include Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture, the bestselling They F*** You Up and Britain on the Couch, which was also a successful documentary series for Channel 4. He is a trustee of two children's charities- the National Family and Parenting Institute and Homestart.