by Luke Burgis
First published 2026
Modern society presents an impossible choice: dissolve into group identity or retreat into meaningless online communities. Both paths lead to fragmentation and hollow belonging. Burgis argues that this crisis extends beyond personal struggle into dangerous mass movements that exploit people desperate for meaning. He draws from philosophy, psychology, and personal experience to show how groups shape our lives and how we shape them in return. The book maps a route through modern society that preserves individual personhood while maintaining authentic community connections. Burgis identifies the rites of passage and personal challenges that separate meaningful lives from those driven by social expectations. Those who master the balance between self and community live with greater freedom and become examples for others. This work calls readers to abandon passive conformity, recover personal depth, and build lives that unite genuine individuality with deep connection.
Genres: philosophy, psychology, social-issues, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-growth
288 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press