The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

Some of the stories in this book are hard to read. And you'll probably be glad that you're not facing any of the situations that the victims featured had to live through. What makes this illuminating book about shame stand out, though, is how deep the author goes to truly try and understand the stories of people who had to go through some of the worst moments you might imagine. You could read these and think that a few of them deserved what they got ... or that no one deserves this sort of public shame. The only thing you won't be able to do is read this book and feel unaffected by the questions it raises:

"A great renaissance of public shaming is sweeping our land. Justice has been democratized. The silent majority are getting a voice. But what are we doing with our voice? We are mercilessly finding people's faults. We are defining the boundaries of normality by ruining the lives of those outside it. We are using shame as a form of social control."

Reading this book is an exercise in schadenfreude, if you like that sort of thing, but the more positive outcome is that understanding how your actions (or silence) online can contribute to destroying a person might make you think twice about partaking in a public shaming the next time you see one happening.

About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.