Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, Other Flights from Burden of Selfhood

"Escaping the Self" is a manifestly brilliant work of social psychology and social criticism. Reading the book, I recapture the feelings of insight that originally attracted me to psychology. The main idea of the book is that many difficult to explain behaviors, such as masochism and suicide, result from a need to escape - and that this need to escape is very specific escape from self-consciousness. Baumeister goes into detail about the various motivations for this need to escape and how they motivate different forms of escape, and also details social trends that have magnified the burden of escape from the self. This is in many ways the kind of book I would love to write. Baumeister is able to see the implicitly accepted dogmas and flaws of the culture he lives in, much like a Nietzsche, before they are generally recognized. It's interesting that this work is out of print now - and the idea not generally appreciated by those who could best put it to work. This pattern occurs with many 'heretical' thinkers. And since the works details more the downside of our obsession with self - something we do not recognize as a choice, or something unusual - this might explain the book's status. Easily the most interesting social/behavioral science book I have read in a long time - it also opens many new avenues for scholarship to the careful reader. Highly reccomended.

Whatever your drug of choice, read this! An amazing theorist and scientist who is an aclaimed social psychologist and accomplished writer. Roy Baumeister has taskled issues that are relevant to all of us. He is able to concisely express his theories regarding the actions of the human species...Essentially the "why" of what we do what we do. A great read for anyone, but especially valuable for those interested in psychology and people in general. An essential tool to the "future-counselor." A must read!