Affluenza - Oliver James

This is a review of the book Affluenza by Oliver James. The paperback version is 548 pages long and published by Vermillion with an rrp of £8.99. It is available in all good bookshops as well as online bookstores such as Amazon. In this book, Oliver James, a psychotherpist and writer, provides us the answer to why, when we are living in such wealthy times, there is an increase of mental health problems such as depression and eating disorders. The answer is that we are all infected with affluenza, that in our pursuit to achieve good grades, look good and buy more, we are making ourselves miserable. The book starts with a self test to see ...  Read the complete review

I didn't buy this book, I borrowed it from my local library- they had taken advantage of the credit crunch to have a whole display dedicated to money- I am grateful- if they hadn't, I doubt this book and I would have crossed paths. I was drawn to it, as not only have I heard Oliver Jame's comments on society before, but also by the review comments- such as... Will Self saying..." should be mandatory reading for everyone" and Jeremy Vine's comment..." Never before have I read a book that so precisely captures the way we are all being emotionally snookered by the demands of 21st century living". The hardback costs £17.99, but it is now ...  Read the complete review

The affluenza of the title is the virus James believes is taking over the English-speaking world faster than you can say Swine flu pandemic. The spread of selfish capitalism is leading to addiction, eating disorders and widespread depression according to the author. James basic idea is a good one with some relevance. This was written before the global recession hit and published back in 2007 by Vermilion so some of the points seem outdated already. I found the metaphor of the virus got in the way of an interesting book sometimes and it was a stretch to fit the book neatly into this restrictive idea. The book begins with a test you can take to see if you are infected ...  Read the complete review

Oliver James raises some interesting points in this rather hefty book, which seems extremely relevant and timely for the experiences we're currently having in the west - i.e. recession. Heavily scrutinising the anglosphere's habits in pretty much every aspect of modern life - work, income, leisure, gender relations, etc. - in order to compare their experiences with the supposedly more balanced, traditional approach taken in places like China, Russia and Singapore, James raises some valid points. Simply put, he claims that we are generally unhappy, and that exceptional workloads - along with the salaries to match - serve only to exacerbate this ...  Read the complete review