In The Selfishness of Others, essayist Kristin Dombek (her work appeared in The Best American Essays 2014) looks at the common belief in "a kind of selfishness we increasingly fear, judging by the rising chorus that calls the young and the bad boyfriends by the same name as the murderers: narcissist." Popular self-help literature describes the narcissist as an empty shell, a fake that only pretends to have emotions and selfhood. But then, she says, who is doing the pretending? How is it that these descriptions of pathological narcissism so perfectly describe exes and bad bosses, mass murderers and perhaps your mom? And "why do these descriptions also (in moments you quietly bury deep inside you) remind you, sometimes, of an entirely different person--that is, you?"
Reflecting on her personal experiences, Internet forums and the works of psychologists and philosophers, Dombek considers current and past debates about narcissism in a conversational, humorous and sometimes profane style. "Maybe it's not something to run from, but... something to turn toward, the selfishness of others, a kind of gift: the thing that can empty the future of your fears from the past." --Sara Catterall