Multiplicity

Rather than viewing each of us as one fixed personality, this book proposes that every person is made up of several distinct characters, each with its own outlook, feelings and goals. A mother serving breakfast to her children, a professional weighing in during a late-morning meeting, and the partner she becomes at home that evening may all share one body, yet none of them is a truer version of the person than the others.

The writer challenges the common belief that shifting between these inner selves is a flaw. In modern life, he suggests, the ability to move from one mode of being to another as circumstances require is a real strength, provided the different parts of a person cooperate rather than compete with one another.

Beyond its central argument, the book offers a set of practical exercises meant to help readers bring their inner characters into harmony.