This Is Not Who I Am

Emily Bootle is a writer and journalist living in London. She currently works at the New Statesman, and This Is Not Who I Am is her first book.

A very elegant and sharp-eyed series of essays. Emily Bootle asks all the right questions about the changes social media is forcing upon our sense of self, what the public now expects from its celebrities and artists, and the extent to which the modern world has turned us all into performers. JONATHAN COE; Bootle is one of our shrewdest and wittiest cultural critics. Keenly attentive to the many absurdities of celebrity coverage, corporate branding tropes, social media affectations and online discourse, This Is Not Who I Am dismantles the contradictions that underpin contemporary culture. Turning her gimlet eye on the influencer economy, Kim Kardashian, astrology, artisanal coffee, Jane Austen, and the kind of man who considers himself "a creative, which is to say he has a humanities degree", Bootle exposes the fundamental collective delusion that links all of the above - our insistence on cultivating and exhibiting a single "authentic" self. ANNA LESZKIEWICZ - ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEW STATESMAN; At a time when the personal has become deeply political, and vice versa, it's hard not to look at yourself in your front cam and think - in your best inner Nikki Grahame voice - "who is she"? Here, Emily Bootle has dared to poke an entire family of bears. From celebrity relatability through to personal branding, the wellness industry and the dominant narrative of "living your truth", this is a fascinating deep dive into the most lucrative and fractured phenomenon of the post-internet age: our selves. EMMA GARLAND - CULTURE WRITER; Timely and compelling ... This Is Not Who I Am offers a sharp commentary on the pervasiveness of "authenticity-culture" and probes its contradictions. THE MONTHLY