Hello, I'm Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity

by Hal Niedzviecki

Book Overview

"Hal Niedzviecki is one of the wisest, funniest and most acute cultural critics writing today."--Naomi Klein, author of No Logo

Hal Niedzviecki has a blunt message for the army of tattoo and piercing enthusiasts, bloggers, skateboard warriors and anyone else walking around with the smug certainty that they are one of a kind: Individuality is the new conformity.

Niedzviecki's meditations touch on everything from designer religions to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872864537
• ISBN13: 9780872864535
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: City Lights Books
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

specialness made special

This book is a broad look at individuality in 2007. Everything that we hold dear that we think makes us "special" and individual in fact makes us conform to widely accepted norms. The only people who seem to be truly individual in this book, are the ones who aren't even trying, and this somehow makes them special. The book is brilliantly written, and is so indepth, compelling and amusing that I raced through it going from one sadly deluded "special" person to the next one. It even gave me an idea for joining "Live Journal", a blog site, so I too could communicate with other like minded individuals, and thus find my own specialness and individuality, (????) which I didn't expect to do. It can't be all bad eh? If you like reading books that probe and make you think, this is a definate read.

Read the book, draw your own conclusions...

In the spirit of "I'm Special," I would suggest that people take the reviews (positive and negative) with a grain of salt, read the book, and draw your own conclusions. Niedzviecki is simply presenting an insightful, albeit inconvenient, commentary on our society. Niedzviecki has done a good job distancing from and reporting on our self-centered (North American) culture; that he's Canadian probably gives him the detachment he needs. It's uneven in places, but there are too many brilliant insights to simply dismiss it. For example, in the chapter called "The Search for Home," he discusses the backlash against the "I'm Special" culture in the form of the neo-traditional movement: "The neo-traditionalists--from downshifter to right-to-lifer--seek an escape from a society that compels loneliness by placing the highest values on individual achievement. Middle-class joiners also seek to be born again into yesterday, stripped of their fears and uncertainties, protected from the ravages and confusions of the shaper-shifting present." (page 157) "Hello, I'm Special" is an interesting, disturbing. and challenging collection of essays--I highly recommend it.

An Important Primer into the World of Cultural Analysis

At one point in your life you have wanted to be a rock star/celebrity. Don't lie, I know this. This is the book for you - this is the book to try to figure out what is wrong with you to dream of having such a lifestyle. And also to figure out why you are never satisfied, always longer for a bigger and better thing. 'Hello, I'm special' is not a perfect book - it's a highly disorganized collection of ideas that go from amusing to disagreeable yet this is one of those books that will get the brain juices going - it will make you kind of smarter. This can be an important book if you leave yourself open to the ideas that what you believe could be false - a difficult thought in this age where everyone is so special.

amazing book! read, learn

i would suggest that everyone read this book. niedzviecki's book gets to the heart of contemporary society. he portrays the difficulty of pursuing one's dream at a time when everyone thinks they are destined for fame and fortune. his documentation of our conflicted time is compassionate, fascinating, and heartwrenching. an excellent read.