The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch (1979)

Talk about being prophetic. Christopher Lasch somehow called out narcissism specifically as the burgeoning societal ill and personality disorder of our time five years before Mark Zuckerberg was even born.

Working through a remarkable range of evidence, Lasch's insights are stunning and even more relevant almost fifty years on. Warning against a culture than prioritizes self esteem over self discipline and that uses psychological jargon (therapy speak) to dismiss genuine ethical considerations, this persuasive book should be required reading for years to come — though the irony of feeling qualified to make that assertion, on a platform dedicated to individuals and their assertions, is fully received.