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Authenticity
Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Ideal for readers interested in history, cultural studies, and the intersection of technology and society. Those fascinated by the concepts of reality, deception, and authenticity will find this book thought-provoking and engaging.
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Description
‘Wide-ranging, witty and fresh … a stimulating read. Authentic fun’
Tim Harford, Financial Times Best Summer Books 2022
‘Brilliantly witty, profoundly illuminating, Alice Sherwood is a master storyteller’ Simon Schama
‘Thought-provoking and beautifully written’ Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Post
‘A sweeping and persuasive manifesto … witty and wide-ranging … a pleasure’
Literary Review
‘Terrific … the sheer breadth of her subject matter is extraordinary’
Matthew d’Ancona, Tortoisemedia.com
‘Alice Sherwood is the real deal’ Marcus du Sautoy
‘Fascinating and hugely entertaining’ Brian Eno
‘Unfailingly compelling and often shocking’ Philip Mould, presenter of Fake or Fortune?
‘Riveting … captivating … a thoroughly enjoyable debut’ Financial Times
We live in an age when the pursuit of authenticity – from living our 'best life' to eating artisan food – matters more and more to us, but where the forces of inauthenticity seem to be taking over. Our world is full of people and products that are not what they seem. We no longer know whether we are talking to a person or a machine. But we can fight back – and this award-winning book shows us how.
Authenticity argues that, although our counterfeit culture is shaped by the most powerful forces of evolution, economics, and technology, we can still come together to reclaim reality.
Along the way, we meet the world's greatest impostor, who finally became what he'd pretended to be; the wartime counterfeiter who fooled a nation; nature's most outrageous deceivers; the artist who encouraged people to forge his pictures; the 'authentic' brand that was anything but. But we also meet people living unexpectedly rewarding lives in virtual worlds, and foot soldiers in the 'armies of truth' who are taking down today's conspiracies and cons.
Provocative, insightful and original, Authenticity is that once-in-a-generation revelation: a work rich in histories but supremely and urgently of our own time. You'll never think about deception and reality in the same way again.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780008520793
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 12 May 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Mudlark
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 32.0mm
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 530g
Pages: 416
About the Author
Alice Sherwood has had an exceptionally varied career, many of whose strands have contributed to the stories and insights that make up The Authenticity Playbook. Alice's first book, it won a Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award for Non-Fiction in 2020. Currently a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Policy Institute at King's College London, Alice has undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Chemistry, an MBA from INSEAD, and an MA in Literary Criticism and Narrative Non-Fiction. She has worked in business, investigative television documentary making, multimedia production at the BBC, and in education at London Gifted and Talented. She has also served as a trustee of the Hay Festival Foundation and the London Library, and as an advisor to The Economist and Pew Trust's 'Evidence Initiative'. She lives in London and Wales.
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