How to Become a Scandal: Adventures in Bad Behavior

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

We all relish a good scandal. Why do people feel compelled to act out their tangled psychodramas on the national stage, and why do we so enjoy watching them? The motifs are classic–revenge, betrayal, ambition, madness–though the pitfalls are ones we all negotiate daily. After all, every one of us is a potential scandal in the making: failed self-knowledge and colossal self-deception–the necessary ingredients–are our collective plight. How to Become a Scandal is an extremely smart, funny, acid, and beautifully written meditation on a scary truth that we all try desperately to ignore (David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto).