Review: The Inner Self by Hugh Mackay

Australian Hugh Mackay is a psychologist, social researcher and bestselling author, and is known for studying attitudes and behaviour. In 2015, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community for this work, and I see him pop up on TV from time to time.

In this book, The Inner Self - The Joy of Discovering Who We Really Are, Mackay outlines our top 20 hiding places where we hide from the truth about ourselves. An interesting concept, these hiding places can include busyness, victimhood, nostalgia, anxiety, perfectionism and work, just to name a few.

Mackay provides case studies to throw light on each of the hiding places, and I found them insightful and sometimes quite funny. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on perfectionism and the case study of Helen dealing with her husband George's pedantry. Throughout the book, I was able to recognise some of these 20 hiding places in the traits of people I know, and of course, within myself, which is the whole point.

Mackay has a great way of speaking and I enjoyed listening to him reading The Inner Self on audiobook. Each chapter can be enjoyed independently of the others, but listening to this over a long period as my reviewing schedule picked up, no doubt diminished the overall impact of the book for me.

I do miss listening to Mackay's pearls of wisdom and I'm sure I'll be seeking out another of his books on audio before too long.

You can seize this book at Booktopia.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★