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The recession, political divisions, and cultural confusion over what one needs to live a good life have made quite the perfect storm for most Americans in the first decade of the 21st century. Heretofore, Americans had been happy with excess, but now what? How does one make sense of it all and assess the material and psychological damage?

Slosar (a clinical psychologist in private practice) uses the tools of his trade to offer an accounting, a major theme of which is narcissism, the obsessive infatuation with sating desires without regard to the needs or well-being of others. The problem–besides those pesky hens coming home to roost–is that forms of narcissism are widespread in the US culture and economic system, as reflected in private life, health care, and love of digital toys, among other things. To illustrate his claims, Slosar switches back and forth between illustrative client case studies and media-based examples of bad behavior (think corporate greed, shameless celebrities, reality television), a method that sometimes works and sometimes does not.

Part psychology, part political analysis, and part polemics, this book makes clear the difficulty of shifting from “Generation Me” to “Generation We.” Summing Up: Recommended. General readers only.

– D. S. Dunn, Moravian College

Physicians For A National Health Program’s (PNHP) Don McCanne, MD has written a great review of the book.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/may/jr-slosars-the-culture-of-excess