The Authenticity Hoax: Why the "Real" Things We Seek Don't Make Us Happy - Sharp, Enlightening Criticism on Irony and Self-Defeat

“A totally real, genuine, authentic book about why you shouldn’t believe any of those words. And it’s genuinely good.”
— Gregg Easterbrook, author of Sonic Boom Exploring a number of trends in our popular culture—from Sarah Palin to Antiques Roadshow , organic food to the indignation over James Frey’s memoir—Andrew Potter follows his successful Nation of Rebels with a new book that argues that our pursuit of the authentic is fraught with irony and self-defeat. Readers of The Paradox of Choice or Bowling Alone will find many enlightening insights in The Authenticity Hoax , which is, in the words of Tom de Zengotita ( Mediated ), “the kind of criticism that changes minds.”