Stolen Focus

Why You Can't Pay Attention

By: Johann Hari

Narrated by: Johann Hari

Bloomsbury presents Stolen Focus written and read by Johann Hari.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS GUILD AUDIO AWARD
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A SPECTATOR AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022
A WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘If you read just one book about how the modern world is driving us crazy, read this one’ TELEGRAPH
‘This book is exactly what the world needs right now’ OPRAH WINFREY
‘A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention’ STEPHEN FRY
‘A really important book . . . Everyone should read it’ PHILIPPA PERRY

—-

Is your ability to focus and pay attention in free fall?

You are not alone. The average office worker now focuses on any one task for just three minutes. But it’s not your fault. Your attention didn’t collapse. It has been stolen.

Internationally bestselling author Johann Hari shows twelve deep factors harming our focus. Once we understand them, together, we can take back our minds.©2022 Johann Hari (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Critic reviews

A brilliant book about one of the most important topics of our time (Dr Rangan Chatterjee)

This mind-blowing book explains everything. Read it and be free (Simon Amstell)

There's so much in this book . . . Unbelievable, juicy dynamite that you have to read (Chris Evans)

I think this book is exactly what the world needs right now . . . I hope everybody buys the book. I promise you it will be worth your time and certainly worth your focus (Oprah Winfrey)

Johann Hari writes like a dream. He’s both lyricist and storyteller – but also an indefatigable investigator of one of the world’s greatest problems: the systematic destruction of our attention. Read this book to save your mind (Susan Cain)

I don’t know anyone thinking more deeply, or more holistically, about the crisis of our collective attention than Johann Hari. And this is a crisis that we must address if we are to meet any of the other pressing emergencies we face as a species, whether ecological or social. Which means that this book could not be more vital. Please sit with it, and focus (Naomi Klein)

A story that so many of us have felt needs to be told, but whose cause and consequences are hard to capture and articulate without guesswork, prejudice or ideology. Hari not only achieves this and more, but he does so it with the pace, sparkle and energy of the best kind of thriller writer. I can’t remember reading a book which made me shout out “yes! That’s it!” quite so many times (Stephen Fry)

A highly original and wide-ranging investigation into the causes of our epidemic of flagging attention. Written with Hari’s trademark incisive prose, indefatigable search for scientific evidence vividly presented, and illustrated with telling anecdotes, Stolen Focus is a bracing and necessary wake-up call to us all (Gabor Maté M.D.)

A fascinating journey into the mind and how it is being manipulated with devastating effects. Hari’s subject is something that is affecting us all and this seminal work will be one of the defining books of our era . . . Get off social media, switch off the TV, put down your smart phone and do one thing – read this book’ (Dr Max Pemberton)

Stop whatever you’re doing and read this book. A deeply researched, disturbing, and yet ultimately hopeful exploration of the primal crisis of our time: our diminishing ability to focus on what really matters (Rutger Bregman, author of HUMANKIND)

If you want to get your attention and focus back, you need to read this remarkable book . . . [Hari] has cracked the code of why we’re in this crisis, and how to get out of it. We all need to hear this message (Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global)

An unbelievable storyteller . . . It might just change your life (Steven Bartlett)

Excellent.

Thank you for bringing such an important subject to my attention. I highly, highly recommend everyone read it!

It’s time to reconnect

I’m guilt of it and I need to make changes.
This audiobook offer just that

Shocking truths and shockingly confrontational

Good reading voice, the author, and very interesting gathering of processes working against our well being, development and growth. Thank you very much, mr Hari!

Must read to gain back your life

An incredibly well researched and written book about one of the biggest crisis of our time - losing our attention.

How can we solve climate change without our attention?

We cannot.

And this week is a start on a journey back.

Well worth listening to the end

This book is remarkably well laid out and informative. It is easy to understand, although not dogmatic. It takes the listener on a comprehensive tour to look at different aspects and it makes sense of trends that are truly heartbreaking. The last chapters point at solutions, for kids as well as adults.