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The Inner Level
The Inner Level
Oct 11, 2024 4:27 AM

Author:Richard Wilkinson,Kate Pickett,Finlay Robertson

The Inner Level

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Inner Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, read by Finlay Robertson.

Why is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than Japan? As this groundbreaking study demonstrates, the answer to all these hinges on inequality.

In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the centre of public debate

by showing conclusively that less-equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everything

from education to life expectancy. The Inner Level now explains how inequality affects us individually,

how it alters how we think, feel and behave. It sets out the overwhelming evidence that material

inequalities have powerful psychological effects: when the gap between rich and poor increases, so does the tendency to defi ne and value ourselves and others in terms of superiority and inferiority. A deep well of data and analysis is drawn upon to empirically show, for example, that low social status is associated with elevated levels of stress, and how rates of anxiety and depression are intimately related to the inequality which makes that status paramount.

Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of

inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are innately

competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of 'natural' differences in individual ability. This book sheds new light on many of the most urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities, sharing and reciprocity generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them.

Reviews

The question of inequality is likely to play a bigger role in the next election than it has for more than a generation. It would be better for all of us if that debate was informed by robust statistical analysis rather than the emotive politics of envy. Any politician wishing to do so would be wise to read Wilkinson and Pickett's books.

—— Andrew Anthony , Observer

Reading this book was a revelation. It's a wonderful book for life

—— Julie Walters, actress

The best self-help book I've read...everyone should read this

—— Health Plus

Like the title says, just go for it

—— Elle

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway will help turn your fear into confidence and action

—— Deidre Sanders, The Sun

Sometimes we all need courage

—— Geri Halliwell, on reading Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway, Evening Standard

This job can really accentuate panic and fear. A great book for that is Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway'

—— Tony Adams, Football Manager, in Men's Health

Packed with insights as to why we feel the way we do and tools to improve your coping mechanisms

—— Sun

The queen of self-help

—— Express

Simple yet profound reasoning

—— Independent

Fortune.com's Top 10 Business Book of 2019

—— .

Wang writes with lucid clarity. . . . Harrowing and heartfelt.

—— Star Tribune

An intimate, rigorously researched, collectio

—— BBC Culture

In a voice both laboratorial and poetic, Wang examines her own diagnosis, as well as her PTSD and Lyme disease, with a gentleness and frankness that mesmerizes and demystifies

—— The Week

Wang is a brilliant writer. . . . This intimate essay collection grapples with her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and all the sorrow and searching that comes with it. Always artful and illuminating, never facile

—— Vulture

Wang's clear-eyed look into a complicated reality makes this is an essential read for anyone who better wants to understand why we treat each other--and ourselves--so harshly at any display of weakness; it's a book of compassion and brilliance, an unflinching look at a topic that has long repelled too many of us.

—— NYLON

Esmé Weijun Wang's compelling essays highlight the humanity behind a schizophrenia diagnosis, delivering a necessary read tackling mental illness

—— Paste

Wang creates an unforgettable portrait of a singular brain

—— Refinery29

Wang is a highly articulate and graceful essayist, and her insights, in both the clinical and general senses, are exceptional.

—— Los Angeles Review of Books

Wang writes brilliantly and beautifully about lives lived with mental illness

—— The Millions

In writing about her experiences, Wang puts a face to the silent suffering of millions of people. Her searing honesty coupled with the strength of her writing make The Collected Schizophrenias a remarkable look into a little-understood part of the human condition

—— Chicago Review of Books

An illuminating, breathtaking look into the underexplored world of schizophrenia, with the rare perspective of someone who's actually been there

—— mindbodygreen

Wang . . . eloquently balances personal narrative and empirical research to offer a powerful series of insights into a woefully misunderstood world.

—— SF Weekly

This beautifully written work will expand your thinking about severe mental illness and mental illness in general

—— Rewire.News

The Collected Schizophrenias is illumination and important--not only because it educates and challenges--but because it forces us to consider how much we still have to work to undo historical and systematic damage, to challenge our own broken, misguided partiality towards what it means to be healthy and sane

—— The Arkansas International

[The Collected Schizophrenias] organizes the confusion, terror and complexity of [Wang's] experience into an imperfectly cohesive, profoundly illuminating whole.

—— Shelf Awareness

Penetrating and revelatory.

—— Publisher's Weekly

This mesmerizing collection of essays has achieved the rarest of rarities--a meaningful and expansive language for a subject that has been long bound by both deep revulsion and intense fascination

—— Jenny Zhang

A brilliant guide to the complexities of thinking about illness, and mental illness, in particular. It will bring hope to others searching to understand their own diagnoses

—— Meghan O'Rourke

A masterful braiding of the achingly personal and the incisively researched. . . . This book is a vital, illuminating window onto the world we all already live in, but find all too easy to ignore

—— Alexandra Kleeman

You won't find any pity-baiting, sensationalism, or false positivity here; Wang is so candidly aware that I'd trust her over my own diary

—— Tony Tulathimutte

Esmé Weijun Wang offers us an all-access pass to her beautiful, unquiet mind. . . Rarely has a book about living with mental illness felt so immediate, raw, and powerful

—— Dani Shapiro

The Collected Schizophrenias is at once generous and brilliantly nuanced, rigorous and bold. It had me rethinking what it is to be well or ill.

—— R.O. Kwon

Esmé Weijun Wang sends out revelatory dispatches from an under-mapped land, shot like arrows in all directions from a taut bow of a mind. . . . Her work changes the way we think about illness - which is to say that it changes us

—— Whiting Award Selection Committee

A remarkable book - intelligent, impassioned, consistently moving - that can’t help but make readers revisit the sharpest spikes of life, where nurses often are. Christie Watson looks directly at the fragility of human existence, and the importance of what we choose to value. I can't think of many better uses of writing, nor of writing more likely to make me a better person

—— Richard Beard

I defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks to the NHS ... An important book that should be on every reading list

—— Fanny Blake , Woman & Home

Christie Watson’s book brings home the incredible strength and determination that nurses working in our critically underfunded NHS must possess – and how wildly underappreciated they are

—— Rachael Jolley, Editor, Index on Censorship

Gripping and tender

—— Radio Times

A remarkable reflection on care, empathy and compassion ... packs massive emotional impact ... I urge you to read it

—— Caroline Sanderson , The Bookseller

This tender, truth-telling memoir will break your heart into little pieces ... This book is a salient reminder that at some point we are all going to need care and we can only hope we'll get someone like Christie who understands the need for "sympathy, compassion, empathy" in our most vulnerable moments

—— Eithne Farry , The Simple Things

The award-winning novelist writes about her 20 years as a nurse, taking us from life to death of the wards in a moving account

—— Hannah Beckerman , Sunday Express

As Watson observes, the ability to step into another’s shoes is essential for both nurse and novelist. So too is an eagle eye, and it is the details that prove so unforgettable ... I found myself compelled to go back, and freshly moved and humbled

—— Stephanie Cross , The Lady

A highly emotional and eloquent retelling of different patients, staffers, experiences and departments ... A much-needed human voice

—— Tanya Sweeney , The Irish Times

[Watson] writes with such considered awareness of medical procedure and resources, human frailty and resilience, that you know she dug deep for this book ... You are also privy to an extraordinary world and appreciate Watson's lasting belief: that most of us are inherently kind - and the better for showing it

—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury's Magazine

The Language of Kindness is teeming with humanity ... [It] puts other memoirs to shame, by narrating an ordinary working life which nevertheless confronts the dark, the sublime, the transcendental

—— Roisin Kiberd , Sunday Business Post

Her book makes harrowing, heart-rendering reading.

—— Helen Brown , Daily Mail

An engaging and authentic portrait of modern care ... Through Watson’s inclusion of relevant statistics and historical facts, as well as her meticulous observation skills, readers will better understand the value of nurses

—— Library Journal

Hypnotic prose ... quiet brilliance ... This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time

—— The Arts Desk

We hear far less often from nurses and therapists… It’s time we heard their side of the story. And who better to tell it than this nurse-turned-award-winning literary novelist.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express

Anecdotal story-telling wrapped up in hypnotic prose… This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time.

—— Marina Vaizey , The Arts Desk

A remarkable book. I learned more in chapter 3 than I have in all the other books I’ve read this year. Watson illustrates why a nurse has a harder job than 99 per cent of lawyers (I am one) and deserves to be paid more. Absolutely brilliant!

—— Clive Stafford Smith OBE, human rights lawyer

The Language of Kindness flows so beautifully, and naturally. Christie adds real warmth to very factual, and medical information … I urge all of you to read this book

—— Five Little Doves

[Watson] beautifully describes the life-affirming impact of nurses doing and saying the right thing

—— Strong Words

[Watson] tells us things we need to know

—— Chisholm , The Tablet

[The Language of Kindness is] a tender and beautifully written account of how this process – learning how to be kind – challenges, teaches, sometimes harms, and then completes a person

—— Peter Dorward , Telegraph

At the heart of Christie Watson’s philanthropic memoir…lies a remarkable thesis on life, death and the kaleidoscopic narratives…that weave us together

—— Kat Lister , The Pool

This stunning read reminds us that nurses are human after all

—— Jude Rogers , Mail on Sunday

Christie Watson's memoir of 20 years as an NHS nurse is completely absorbing. The best books tell us about life as well as lives and I've read nothing recently that I found so moving and, even in its descriptions of suffering and death, so uplifting. Watson has an eye for detail that is practical, compassionate and very often funny

—— Lucy Lethbridge , The Tablet

Christie captures life as a nurse in the humblest manner, and anyone in or considering nursing is encouraged to read it

—— Julia Williams , Gastrointestinal Nursing

Watson’s prose…fizzes with real life, each story and encounter containing its own epic narrative sweep

—— Lucy Lethbridge , The Oldie

This brilliant and profound book left an indelible mark on me this year

—— Ian Birrell , i

Moving and compassionate…The Language of Kindness… is a sensitive, perceptive and blunt account of a nurse’s journey

—— Richard Barr , Solicitors Journal

An astounding account of life as a nurse

—— Liz Nice , Eastern Daily Press

The Language of Kindness exerts the power of a gripping novel threaded with science, philosophy, history and ethics. Like poetry, it resists paraphrase. A quick summary is out of the question, this brilliant life-changing book has to be experienced.

—— Martina Evans , Irish Times

Watson evokes the topography of each arm of nursing in vivid detail.

—— Irish Times

I defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks for the NHS… An important book that should be on every reading list.

—— Fanny Blake , Woman & Home

The Language of Kindness could not be more compelling or more welcome. It's about how we survive, and about the people who help us do so

—— Roxana Robinson , New York Times Book Review

[A] powerful account of her life as a nurse… reading her memoir is a truly uplifting experience.

—— Jacqueline Wilson , The Week

A nurse’s voice has never really been heard before on this scale. Now’s the time for it to ring loud.

—— Stylist

[Watson] is an elegant, eloquent writer who brings an immediacy to her work. You are right there beside her all the way as she provides a fascinating insight into the trails and triumphs of life in an NHS hospital… a rallying call for kindness and compassion that every one of us should embrace.

—— Mernie Gilmore , Sunday Express

Through Watson, we are taken on an absorbing, all-seeing tour through the doors of the hospital

—— Molly Case , Guardian
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