Faking It

by William Ian Miller

This book is about the intrusive fear that we may not be what we appear to be, or worse, that we may be only what we appear to be and nothing more. It is concerned with the worry of being exposed as frauds in our profession, cads in our love lives, as less than virtuously motivated actors when we are being agreeable, charitable, or decent. Why do we so often mistrust the motives of our own deeds, thinking them fake, though the beneficiary of them gives us full credit? Much of this book deals with that self-tormenting self-consciousness. It is about roles and identity, discussing our engagement in the roles we play, our doubts about our identities amidst this flux of roles, and thus about anxieties of authenticity.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Sociology, Science

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this book high considering I only liked 2/3 of the material. The 2/3 are a must read however. Personally, I could have done without all of the religious connotations. It's great, the author puts to words what we're all thinking, ALL the time. He makes a compelling argument that 'faking it' does nobody any good. Perhaps because his ideas closley align with my existing social biasis; that I really enjoyed book. Either way, well written and a great concept.

[Renate Eveline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable and sometimes extremely entertaining, lots of examples from literature. Miller made me think how many instants I end up faking it myself.
The book has some downsides as well: overcomplete in its ambitions to cover all aspects of faking it.
Miller takes many quotes from La Rouchefoucault, but why does the author draw so heavily from this source?
I ended up faking reading some chapters.

[Paul Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat stream of consciousness in style. But full of interesting literary and philosophical references.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a collection of essays than a linear examination of insincerity and the motivations for acting in bad faith. I especially paid attention to the chapter on irony.
Miller concentrates on 'faking it' in acedemia and religion in particular. I beleive an entire other book (or more!) could be written on adopting identities (dietary-restriction-as-lifestyle, the idealized life of an artist--or any particular career, alleged altruism, etc.).

[Marianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what i was expecting. Preface described feeling that author is faking his role as professor and subject expert. But the rest of the book discussed jesus, hypocrascy, etc.

Nancy Frazier brought it to my attention.

[reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made it through the first chapter. I guess the concept just wasn't compelling enough to keep me wading through it. I'm having better luck with Eye For an Eye.

[Shatara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was slow at first. But now as I'm continuing to read the book it gets more interesting as I go on also this book is one of the books that have you wanting to skip ahead to see what is gonna happen next.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miller continues an excellent and entertaining writer, but this book was a lot more scattered than The Anatomy of Disgust.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun subject matter, some parts were funny but sometimes it felt really tiring.