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So Lonely
Our Desire for Community And What Drives Us Apart
Brief Description
A cerebral, intricate study of loneliness from an acclaimed Scandinavian writer. Far beyond a personal difficulty, loneliness has grown into a problem that plagues whole societies. Many countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have gone as far as to declare a loneliness...
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So Lonely
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See moreA cerebral, intricate study of loneliness from an acclaimed Scandinavian writer.
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Description
A cerebral, intricate study of loneliness from an acclaimed Scandinavian writer.
Far beyond a personal difficulty, loneliness has grown into a problem that plagues whole societies. Many countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have gone as far as to declare a loneliness epidemic. Loneliness can lead to depression and anxiety, and can even increase your chance of death by 26%. But what defines loneliness, and is it true that we are lonelier now than we have ever been?
As COVID-19 forced entire populations into isolation in 2020, author Hilde Østby set out to investigate loneliness in all its forms. To frame this huge, multidisciplinary undertaking, she turned to the Moomin novels by revered Norwegian children's author Tove Jansson. Under the watchful eye of such Jansson creations as the tragically alienated Groke, this fascinating book recounts Østby's own struggles with the condition and her many conversations with researchers, artists, and journalists who have looked closely at the myriad faces of loneliness and the ways it can be overcome.
Again and again, she returns to the nightmarish events of the 2011 Utøya terrorist attacks, a collective trauma for Norwegian society that Østby views as permeated with loneliness, in both its causes and effects. This is a deeply personal and yet universally relevant book about the costs to all when some are pushed out of society. But it is also a book about the incredible capabilities of human beings—how resilient we are, and how we survive and find ourselves through our relationships with others.
Loneliness is one of the most important and difficult topics of our time, and this book is a beautiful meditation on it, taking us from The Moomins to the far right. Inspiring and original. — Johann Hari, New York Times-bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus.
Praise for Hilde Østby:
Østby's thoroughly researched offering is a joy to read...Curiosity seekers will be enlightened. — Publishers Weekly on The Key to Creativity
An accessible book, which makes it all the more joyful. — NYLON on Adventures in Memory
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781778400025
Publisher: Greystone Books,Canada
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 15 May 2025
Country: Canada
Imprint: Greystone Books,Canada
Illustration: Illustrations
Contributors:
- Translated by Matt Bagguley
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 228.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Hilde stby is the author of The Key to Creativity, My Belly, and the co-author of Adventures in Memory, which was translated into twenty-one languages. She has worked as a literary critic for Norway's biggest newspaper and published fiction to critical acclaim. She has a master's degree in the history of ideas and lives in Oslo, Norway.
Also by Hilde stby
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Adventures in Memory
A novelist and a neuroscientist uncover the secrets of human memory. What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory? With playfulness and intelligence, Adventures in Memory answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties. The authors—two Norwegian sisters, one a neuropsychologist and the other an acclaimed...Paperback$4900Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
My Belly
If my hatred of my belly was a person, she would be old enough to have completed a lengthy education and given me grandchildren. An unflinching and feminist portrait of one woman's obsession with her belly and the cultural and social norms that feed that obsession, for readers of Nora Ephron's classic memoir I Feel Bad About My Neck. Hilde...PaperbackSold Out -
The Key to Creativity
Readers of Susan Cain's Quiet and Daniel Pink's When will appreciate this passionate investigation into creativity and the human brain - from the perspective of an author investigating her own brain after a concussion. Author and journalist Hilde Østby was cycling to work one day when she crashed head-first into a stone bridge. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with...HardbackSold Out -
Diving for Seahorses
What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory? Diving for Seahorses answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties: our memory. Sisters Hilde and Ylva Østby—one an acclaimed writer, the other a neuropsychologist—skilfully interweave history, research, and personal stories in this fascinating exploration of the evolving...PaperbackSold Out
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