Review by triple_m - The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

medium-paced

1.0

I genuinely cannot believe how much I hated this book, especially because I’m a fan of Montell’s other books.

Main issues:

This book really lacks a main theme, and I don’t think the title really suits the book. It’s more just a stringed together collection of theories/phenomenons based off of what Montell was personally affected by. This directly leads to…
The is one of the most self-indulgent books I’ve ever read. A few relevant anecdotes can make a non-fiction/educational book interesting, but I did not need a personal story for every topic, nor did it contribute to anything.
All topics and information were discussed at a surface level. If you’ve never heard of these very common concepts, then this could be interesting to you. But if you read non-fiction, then chances are you have a basic level of knowledge (comparable with Montell, it seems) on most, if not all, of the topics. I don’t feel like I learned or retained anything.

One positive is that I think Montell is a great narrator. If you want to write a memoir, then write a memoir, girl.

Content Warnings