June · 2021 · St. Martin’s Press
Wanting
The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
Gravity moves bodies. Mimetic desire moves people. We borrow our wants from the people around us — models, rivals, friends — and those borrowed desires shape careers, markets, and marriages before we notice them at work.
Wanting is the account of René Girard’s theory for readers outside the seminar room: how mimetic desire works, how rivalry escalates, why crowds turn on scapegoats, and how to tell a thick desire, one worth building a life on, from a thin one. Translated into twenty languages.
“This book makes a startling case that many of our goals are merely reflections of what we think others want. It’s a spellbinding read, and it will leave you rethinking your own motivations for months and maybe even years later.” — Adam Grant
Published in twenty languages.
