Paradox of Choice Revised and Updated

Barry Schwartz is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College and Visiting Professor of Management at Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley. He is the author of The Battle for Human Nature, The Costs of Living, Practical Wisdom (with Kenneth Sharpe), Why We Work, and Choose Wisely (with Richard Schuldenfrei). He lives in Oakland, CA.Nathan Cheek is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he leads the Choice, Inequality, and Policy (CHIP) Lab. He lives in Washington, D.C.

“In this revolutionary and beautifully reasoned book, Barry Schwartz shows that there is vastly too much choice in the modern world. This promiscuous amount of choice renders the consumer helpless and dissatisfied. The Paradox of Choice is a must read for every thoughtful person.” — Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness“Schwartz has plenty of insightful things to say about the perils of everyday life.” — Booklist“This book is valuable in two ways. It argues persuasively that most of us would often be better off with fewer options, and that many of us try too hard to make the best choices. While making its case, the book also provides an engaging introduction to current psychological research on choice and on well-being.” — Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and Professor of Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University“Wonderfully readable.” — Washington Post“Schwartz lays out a convincing argument.... [He] is a crisp, engaging writer with an excellent sense of pace.” — Austin American-Statesman“Schwartz offers helpful suggestions of how we can manage our world of overwhelming choices.” — St. Petersburg Times“With its clever analysis, buttressed by sage New Yorker cartoons, The Paradox of Choice is persuasive.” — BusinessWeek“Schwartz chronicles well how our choices have expanded, how our demands for perfection have increased and how we suffer as a result.” — St. Petersburg Times“An insightful study that winningly argues its subtitle.” — Philadelphia Inquirer“Brilliant.... The case Schwartz makes... is compelling, the implications disturbing.... An insightful book.” — Christian Science Monitor“In The Paradox of Choice, Schwartz lays out a convincing argument that choice is one good thing that we’ve got entirely too much of…. Schwartz doesn’t expect the reader to take anything on faith, and he carefully builds his argument piece by piece, rendering his conclusions all the more devastating…. One of the book’s signal strengths is Schwartz’s writing style, which might be described as intelligently conversational. Similarly, his low-key presentation of his thesis is all the more convincing for its unassuming nature.” — Austin American-Statesman