Be a straight shooter; tell it like it is; keep it real—such admonitions appeal to us because we'd like to believe there is an authentic self to which we can be true, even as we invent identities on Facebook, pay thousands for plastic surgeries, and select news sources that cater to our viewpoints. Here the author of Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck and Against Happiness explores the possibility that we can't help but be phony. But our ability to remake ourselves is in fact a magical process that can be liberating in its own way, argues Eric Wilson. In provocative, witty, wide-ranging prose—as likely to riff on Bill Murray as to contemplate Plato—he uncovers bracing truths about what it means to be human, and how to turn our necessary lying into artful living.

"A gifted, candid raconteur, [Wilson] serves up pithy and often playful writing.... Readers should be left entertained and enlightened by Wilson's vast knowledge, immediacy, and honesty."—Publishers Weekly

"A terrific new philosophical investigation.... The great appeal to me of Wilson's view and this book [is] he is brave enough to admit that the work of trying to be a good person requires you to think very hard—yes, very honestly—about how you actually interact with others."—NYTBR