Stolen Focus

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What to expect

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

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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.

Critics Review

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
Thanks to this brilliant book, I have got to know myself and my fellow humans better. It educates and entertains you - the stories will suck any reader in, and then slowly change your mind. Everyone should read it. It has changed my habits - way beyond just putting away my phone more. Stolen Focus is a really important book
Philippa Perry
In his unique voice, Johann Hari tackles the profound dangers facing humanity from information technology and rings the alarm bell for what all of us must do to protect ourselves, our children and our democracies
Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State
An entirely necessary book, a miracle of clarity and depth, a resonant, deeply researched warning followed by a truly inspiring clarion-call to action. Read it and weep, then dry your eyes and join in
Emma Thompson
A visionary, systemic, revolutionary and practical guide for creating the new world. Through tireless research and genius insight Johann Hari certainly snapped me to attention. A life changing book
V, author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES
Provided a staggering insight into the misery occasioned by our addiction to the idiocies of the web. If you have kids please read it
Spectator
This is a book for those of us (all of us?), who feel we are spending too much time staring at our phones — and are losing the capacity to concentrate
Financial Times

User Reviews

Book 4.3
Narration 4.0
5.0
4.0
cgahaw998 16/07/2025
4.0
5.0
AnikaNicky 23/04/2024
4.0
3.0
Interesting book, covers a variety of reasons on why we’ve became less focused and attentive in recent times. The information about the impact of technology and diet and pollution was very engaging. I was less impressed with the ADHD topics. I didn’t find the narration that good, his tone was a bit monotonous and it felt a bit like lecturing.
Ana Martins 22/01/2024

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