The Maclean’s columnist and Canadian Business editor Andrew Potter discusses his new book The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves (McClelland & Stewart, 2010), with Joseph Planta.

The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves by Andrew Potter. (McClelland & Stewart, 2010) Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Authenticity Hoax

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line. This is THECOMMENTARY.CA.

A fascinating, important book out now from McClelland & Stewart is The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves. It investigates authenticity, what it is, why we seek it, and what happens in the quest for it. What the author, Andrew Potter finds is most interesting. It seems this demand for authenticity, as ubiquitous it is in our morality, politics, and social and consuming behaviour, we are in fact more artificial, more competitive, and self-absorbed, thus eroding our communities and our genuine relationships. What I liked about the book is that the author, who joins me now, can weave together his arguments using intellectual examples from philosophy and attach them to Oprah, Obama, and other popular cultural references I can grasp. Andrew Potter is a columnist at Maclean’s, an editor at Canadian Business, and the co-author of the big bestseller The Rebel Sell. He holds a PhD in philosophy, and has taught at Trent University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Quebec at Montreal. The website for more is http://authenticityhoax.squarespace.com. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Andrew Potter; Good morning, Mr. Potter.

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