NON-FICTION

Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed And What It's Doing To Us by Will Storr is published in hardback by Picador, priced £18.99 (ebook £9.49). Available now

Having come face to face with South Sudanese refugees, Colombian warmongers and remote Aborigines in the course of his colourful journalistic career, Will Storr may be entitled to believe he has encountered more disparate civilizations than most. In Selfie, however, Storr retreats from those untamed hinterlands all the way to the inner self, tracing the history of the cult of the individual from the ancient Greek philosophy of Aristotle all the way through to today's internet-saturated age. No one can deny that such a tome is timely, and Storr makes for an engrossing companion, although the sheer scope of the project is such that some sections - ironically, depending on the reader's individual preferences - will drag. Storr's journey into the self ends in Silicone Valley in California, by far the most unnerving section of the book, where geeks pursue concepts of individualistic perfection under the increasing influence of cybernetics. Selfie can be baffling at times - and perhaps the effects of modern social media might have deserved more focus - but it's still an engaging read - whoever you are.

6/10

(Review by Mark Staniforth)