Publisher's Synopsis
Expanding on her popular New York Times Magazine article, "Generation Adderall," Schwartz details the decade she spent taking prescription pills to help her pay attention (or so she thought), and considers the wider landscape of attention from past to present. From our craving for distraction to our craving for a cure, from Silicon Valley to psychedelics to the works and lives of writers like David Foster Wallace, Aldous Huxley, William James, and Simone Weil, who each wrote powerfully about attention's role in defining our lives, Schwartz acts as our sympathetic and qualified guide. Blending personal reflection and fascinating research, Schwartz examines her attempts to preserve her authentic life and see what's most important in it. Attention will resonate with readers who want to determine their own minds, and look away from the siren call of their screens.
