Reviews - Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians

to be entirely honest i did not technically finish this book. this was a lot heavier on history than i normally like which isn’t a bad thing, i just don’t love the type of history she was exploring. she was also exploring self creation through the lens of like religion and the white western world which isn’t a bad thing however i feel like this book would have been more fascinating to me if it was exploring self creation through the lens of people typically not seen in society and how that allows us to create ourselves more freely.

elharpwhy's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

2.75

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

A reflective book on the history of being self-made and how it affects us now, and our expectations of ourselves and those around us.
I knew that being "self-made" is basically a scam and that it's mostly a thing for the middle to upper-middle-class healthy, white man, now somewhat a woman of the same social class. Yes, you could be poor at one point in the US and become "self-made". But as the book shows, the whole thing is false, you can't individually self-make yourself into wealth.
The book uses Trump as an example: he started as a wealthy white man and is a terrible businessperson! He lost most of his inheritance, made some of it back through a TV show, and continues to defraud and not pay people!
Overall, an enjoyable book though very informative!

Narrator Rating: 4 stars
Excellent for a non-fiction narrator, slightly above average for any narrator.

Extra ratings: Fluff -NA Heartfelt -NA Helpful - 4/5 Horror -NA Inspiration -2/5 Love aka Romance -NA Mystery -NA Predictability -NA Spice -NA Suspense -NA Tear -NA Thrill -NA Humor-1.5/5

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