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The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations Paperback – May 17, 1991

4.4 out of 5 stars 605 ratings

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When The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century.

The book quickly became a bestseller. This edition includes a new afterword, "The Culture of Narcissism Revisited."
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Lasch took in a remarkable range of contemporary experience, making many observations that, if anything, ring more true today. . . . [Readers] may want to seek solace in Lasch’s illuminations.”
-
Lee Siegel, The New York Times

“Never has the case against narcissism been made with such an all-embracing sweep. . . . [Lasch] has brilliantly performed the first job of a social critic by prompting us to look at our reflection―shorn of vanity.”
-
Valerie Lloyd, Newsweek

“Brilliantly on target [and] idiosyncratically compelling.”
-
Alan Wolfe, New Republic

“This is the big intellectual book of the season, the one for everyone to feel guilty about not reading.”
-
Henry Allen, Washington Post

“Formidable intellectual grasp and the kind of moral conviction rarely found in contemporary, value-neutral history and sociology. . . . Lasch is on to something quite real.”
-
Time

“His vigorous appraisal of contemporary American life is to be admired as much for the perspicacity of his observations as for the contancy of this argument and the scope of his supporting references. . . . Few write with his penetration, intelligence, and historical expertise.”
-
Kirkus Reviews

“Christopher Lasch has gone to the heart of our culture. The insights into personality and its social context are stunning. This is a courageous, important book.”
-
Michael Rogin, University of California, Berkeley

“Cultural history at its best. . . . Provokes, startles, and keeps the reader arguing with himself as well as with the writer. . . . A book of fundamental importance.”
-
Bruce Mazlish, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

About the Author

Christopher Lasch (1932–1994), professor of history at the University of Rochester, wrote, among many other works, The True and Only Heaven: Progress and Its Critics and the best-selling Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0393307387
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 17, 1991
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Revised
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780393307382
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393307382
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1470L
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 605 ratings

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Christopher Lasch
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4.4 out of 5 stars
605 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable and well-preserved in great condition. The cultural analysis receives mixed reactions, with some finding it particularly insightful and relevant, while others consider it too didactic.

26 customers mention "Readability"26 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, with one describing it as a must-read for Marxists and another noting its thought-provoking nature.

"I found this book very throught-provoking, in the boldness and bleakness of its basic thesis (that narcissism is really about fear..." Read more

"Great book. Probably one of the best examinations of modern western culture ever written...." Read more

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I read about 6 months or so after purchase...." Read more

"...the doctrine of "competitive individualism" will find this book a worthy read and perhaps challenge those of a liberal mind set." Read more

3 customers mention "Spruce up"3 positive0 negative

Customers are satisfied with how the book arrived, noting it was in great condition and intact.

"...The book itself was in great condition...." Read more

"Was needed for a play where it was referenced. Arrived clean, intact and in good shape." Read more

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38 customers mention "Cultural analysis"25 positive13 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's cultural analysis, with some finding it particularly insightful and relevant, while others find it didactic and lacking substance.

"It explains contemporary America." Read more

"...a transcription of a series of the author's lectures and comes across as a bit pedantic...." Read more

"...specifics in Lasch's ideas, but overall, this was a persuasive, interesting, and compelling union of cultural and individual analysis, centered on..." Read more

"written in the 70's but very relevant and predicted our divisions" Read more

Good book, skip the foreword
5 out of 5 stars
Good book, skip the foreword
Great book. Probably one of the best examinations of modern western culture ever written. My only complaint isn't with the original book, which was written in 1979, but the forward written by Eugene Dionne Jr, in this 2018 reprint. The foreword is basically just a political rant. I've posted two passages on narcissism, one written by Eugene, and the other by Lasch. Judge for yourself how absolutely boring Eugene's political rant is compared to Lasch's commentary. Judge for yourself. My advice: skip the foreword and enjoy the rest of the book.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    It explains contemporary America.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2005
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I found this book very throught-provoking, in the boldness and bleakness of its basic thesis (that narcissism is really about fear [and is not simply about vanity]; and that America is a culture that suffers from [and promotes] fear [of nothingness, of "no exit"]). Due to this narcissistic fear, Lasch believes that Americans lack a purpose, an "end-point," and that this anomie, coupled with gross cultural overloads (the failure of the family, the intrusion of the state into the family, the substitution of state paternalism for individual self-initiative, the erosion of authority, the "therapeutic culture," and so forth) gives rise to "the spectacle" designed to distract America from the fear of being nothing and its inner rage (whew! that was a sentence!).

    It takes some effort to grasp Lasch's thesis, and I found some of the commentary dated (as one might expect from a book published in 1979), but the writing is very polished and thoughtfully provocative.

    All of the "problems" I encountered with the book were those of trying to understand, think through, "test" and consider Lasch's ideas--which, to me, are all marks a good book. I can find fault with specifics in Lasch's ideas, but overall, this was a persuasive, interesting, and compelling union of cultural and individual analysis, centered on the psychoanalytic concept of narcissism and America's unique history. Specific topics included: (a) "making it" in America; (b) pseudo self-awareness and the spectacle of politics and celebrity; (c) the degradation of sport; (d) the commoditization of education and its focus on "life adjustment;" (e) socialization of reproduction and the collapse of authority; (f) the flight from ("true") feeling embodied in a culture of promiscuity and sexual warfare (perhaps his least balanced chapter); (g) the "planned obsolescence" of older persons; and (h) the link between our bureaucratic culture and narcissistic dependence on it.

    The overall tone of the book reminded me of Joan Didion's novels and Yates' poem Slouching Toward Bethlehem--fear and anxiety about nothing within, nothing without, simply our neediness. Lasch's book also reminded me of another psychoanalytically informed cultural critique from the 1950s, Norman Brown's Love's Body.
    240 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2024
    The text reads like a transcription of a series of the author's lectures and comes across as a bit pedantic. Reading this like one read their college sociology text books is a better approach. This provides a better flow and time to search anything unfamiliar (and there is a lot of it, unless the reader is a degreed clinical psychologist).
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    The book was sold as “used”. It’s a hardback with a cover. The cover shows some wear and had a small tear. The book itself was in great condition. The spine is still stiff, pages have yellowed a bit (print date is 1979) with age but are crisp and stiff with no marking or stains. The cover is still a deep dyed black. The book appears as if it has been handled but appears as if it has never been read. Or, at most it was read once and shelved. Truly a great value for the price.

    As far as the content of the book, you probably already know. I have not read it yet but have heard it cited for years from various thinkers.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2024
    written in the 70's but very relevant and predicted our divisions
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Every generation has at least one leading intellectual on hand to tell us that the world is going to perdition. If you like books whose message is "the sky is falling", Christopher Lasch--a highly-educated man and a lucid writer-- delivers that message well.

    Mr. Lasch attributes America's social ills (circa 1979, but presumably he would make the same diagnosis today) to "narcissism". He devotes much discussion to the grave character pathology which psychiatrists call Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD); there would have been no purpose in doing so unless he intended to equate NPD with "mere" selfishness and self-absorption. Of course many people are self-absorbed (and by laymen, they might be called "narcissists"), but this does not mean that they have NPD; nor can it be said that an entire society has NPD, because by definition a "personality disorder" is a condition that prevents its possessor from functioning according to social norms. Moreover, most psychiatrists would say that because someone is self-absorbed or selfish does not mean that they have NPD.

    So, if you are unconvinced by Mr. Lasch's psychiatric analysis, you are left only with a series of chapters about what Mr. Lasch considers to be evidence of cultural decay. However, one man's "cultural decay" might be another man's "vibrant culture". One might question whether Mr. Lasch's perspective is merely one to be expected from an inhabitant of the proverbial Ivory Tower.

    Those of us of sufficient age realized long ago that the world is, was, and always will be on the road to perdition. But nobody seems to do much about it, and when one comes to the end of this famous book, one will see that Mr. Lasch offers no prescriptions for putting matters right. If he is right about America suffering from pathological "narcissism", the only remedy would appear to be that we all get psychiatric help.
    36 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2019
    Great book. Probably one of the best examinations of modern western culture ever written.

    My only complaint isn't with the original book, which was written in 1979, but the forward written by Eugene Dionne Jr, in this 2018 reprint. The foreword is basically just a political rant. I've posted two passages on narcissism, one written by Eugene, and the other by Lasch. Judge for yourself how absolutely boring Eugene's political rant is compared to Lasch's commentary. Judge for yourself. My advice: skip the foreword and enjoy the rest of the book.
    Customer image
    Jae
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Good book, skip the foreword

    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2019
    Great book. Probably one of the best examinations of modern western culture ever written.

    My only complaint isn't with the original book, which was written in 1979, but the forward written by Eugene Dionne Jr, in this 2018 reprint. The foreword is basically just a political rant. I've posted two passages on narcissism, one written by Eugene, and the other by Lasch. Judge for yourself how absolutely boring Eugene's political rant is compared to Lasch's commentary. Judge for yourself. My advice: skip the foreword and enjoy the rest of the book.
    Images in this review
    Customer imageCustomer image
    151 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Luis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless insight and brilliance
    Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Just a purely brilliant insight into our self-absorption. If you're buying this book, you probably already understand how a nation of narcissists can be toxic. Lasch just articulates it so well. Worth reading -- for generations to come.
  • The Amazonian
    5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with genuine social, political, cultural, and psychological insights
    Reviewed in Australia on September 8, 2022
    Notwithstanding any of its faults, this book provides an intelligent basis for the understanding of our own lives and times while reverberating an even more relevant clarion call across the ages since its original publication in 1979,

    Very reasonable quality publication at this price, but make sure you've had your reading glasses prescription updated before embarking on this volume. The font size will test any eyesight.

    100% recommendation on content!
  • Paulo Victor
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lasch, the prophet
    Reviewed in Brazil on August 19, 2021
    This book could have been written and published yesterday, such is its timeliness. The author, in fact, foresaw many of the problems that currently afflict contemporary society. Strongly recommended reading.
  • EmWill
    5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant writing, excellent ideas, a classic.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    An excellent analysis of contemporary society, Lasch writes elegantly and transparently but not simply. A challenging read but it's a great work-out for the left hemisphere.
  • Arko
    5.0 out of 5 stars great read
    Reviewed in Germany on June 9, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    published in the seventies, but far from being outdated - a valuable examination of our society, not only for America