This short and vigorous book consists of a penetrating collection of interrelated essays whose defining characteristic is that they pin down, magnify and mirror back to us, with embarrassing clarity and force, our most dysfunctional yet unexamined ways of thinking, living and relating to each other in the early 21st century. Our ills are diagnosed with x-ray vision and laser precision.

The book assesses our situation from a neutral vantage point outside the cultural echo chamber of values, opinions and beliefs in which most of us find ourselves immersed. In doing so, it reveals what most of us can’t see. It confronts us with unpleasant truths about ourselves, the acknowledgement of which is imperative if we are to heal and improve our lives. The book also points to sane ways forward, and the appropriateness of these ways become self-evident once they are elucidated.