Hilde stby

“Inspiring and original.”—Johann Hari, New York Times bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen FocusA deeply personal, philosophical meditation on the global phenomenon of loneliness. Loneliness increases your chance of early death by 26 percent, places your body under extreme physical stress, can lead to depression and anxiety, and is so pervasive that it's been recognized as an epidemic in the United States. But what defines loneliness, and is it true that we are lonelier now than we have ever been? Simultaneously intimate and impeccably researched, So Lonely recounts acclaimed Norwegian writer Hilde Østby’s own questions about and struggles with the condition, and her many conversations with researchers, artists, and journalists who have looked closely at the myriad faces of loneliness and the ways it can be overcome. She speaks with experts in neuroscience, psychology, and sociology about the factors that cause us to be lonely: from racism, toxic masculinity, poverty, and violence, to technology, conspiracy theories, and trauma. She also turns to literature, including the Moomin novels by revered Norwegian children’s author Tove Jansson. As she unmasks the many faces of loneliness, she also examines its impact, returning to events like Norway's 2011 Utøya terrorist attack as examples of collective traumas whose causes and effects are permeated with loneliness. For readers of The Lonely City and Languishing, So Lonely is a moving, essential book about the costs to all when some are pushed out, and also about the incredible capabilities of human beings—how resilient we are, and how the restorative power of community allows us to thrive.

If my hatred of my belly was a person, she would be old enough to have completed a lengthy education and given me grandchildren. An unflinching and feminist portrait of one woman’s obsession with her belly and the cultural and social norms that feed that obsession––for readers of Nora Ephron’s classic memoir I Feel Bad About My Neck.“Hilde Ostby says she's never entered a room without thinking about her belly. She can't stand it. … So [she] decided to really examine why she spent most of her adult life hating how she looked.”—NPR Weekend EditionHilde Ostby is an acclaimed cultural critic and successful writer living in Norway. At the start of My Belly, she is on tour in London, promoting her latest book about the culture and science of memory. As she poses for a photograph for the London Times, she silently worries about how her belly will look on the front page of the Arts section. Later, she realizes how ridiculous this is: she’s being celebrated for an intellectual achievement, and yet all she can focus on is her belly. How did a girl from an academic home, where intellect came before looks, find herself in this position? As Hilde approaches her 45th birthday, she calculates that she’s spent 30 years obsessing over her belly. If she had spent that time writing books instead, she would have written the equivalent of Knaussgard’s My Struggle. All six volumes. How can we stop obsessing over our bodies and claim back our time? We can start by understanding who and what led us to this place. In My Belly, Hilde explores the original reason she began hating her body: at fifteen, she was sexually abused. She also examines patriarchal attitudes towards women’s bodies, and delves into diets, revealing that by the time most women reach her age, they have tried 61 diets. Drawing on philosophy, neurology, sociology, literature, and popular culture, as well as her own dark truths, Hilde offers an honest look at an obsession that seems to have plagued women for centuries. Readers will come away with laughter, anger, tears, and a new perspective on their own unique struggles.

Readers of Susan Cain's Quiet and Daniel Pink's When will appreciate this passionate investigation into creativity and the human brain—from the perspective of an author investigating her own brain after a concussion. Author and journalist Hilde Østby was cycling to work one day when she crashed head-first into a stone bridge. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and prescribed rest and relaxation. But her brain was anything but restful: ideas for new writing projects popped into her head at a frenzied pace. Never before had she had so many 'aha' moments. But at the same time, simple tasks like walking through an airport felt impossible. Had the concussion made her—like the stereotype of the tortured artist—more creative but less able to function in society? Or was there something else at play? What makes a person creative, anyway? In The Key to Creativity, Østby takes readers on a deep-dive into why we are creative and what conditions must be present in order for us to make our best work: whether that be a painting, a piece of writing, or simply a good email. Using characters from Alice in Wonderlandfor inspiration, Østby investigates why we have ideas that seemingly come out of nowhere, like the Cheshire Cat, and how we can quiet our inner critic, like the rule-obsessed Queen of Hearts. Along the way, she speaks with artists of all stripes and interviews psychiatrists and neurologists who specialize in understanding what happens in the brain when we are at our most creative. She discovers that having a tortured and lonely existence isn't necessarily conducive to producing great art—and that being able to complete a task, on time, and according to your and others' expectations, is as important as being able to think outside the box. Østby soon learns that she needs to make changes in her own life to recover from her brain injury and to give structure and life to her ideas. This engaging and groundbreaking book debunks the myth that you need to be a genius in order to be an artist or inventor. All you need is an idea and the tools to make your creative dream come true.

A novelist and a neuroscientist uncover the secrets of human memory. What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory? With playfulness and intelligence, Adventures in Memory answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties. The authors—two Norwegian sisters, one a neuropsychologist and the other an acclaimed writer—skillfully interweave history, research, and exceptional personal stories, taking readers on a captivating exploration of the evolving understanding of the science of memory from the Renaissance discovery of the hippocampus—named after the seahorse it resembles—up to the present day. Mixing metaphor with meta-analysis, they embark on an incredible journey: “diving for seahorses” for a memory experiment in Oslo fjord, racing taxis through London, and “time-traveling” to the future to reveal thought-provoking insights into remembering and forgetting. Along the way they interview experts of all stripes, from the world’s top neuroscientists to famous novelists, to help explain how memory works, why it sometimes fails, and what we can do to improve it. Filled with cutting-edge research and nimble storytelling, the result is a charming—and memorable—adventure through human memory.