Trauma Industrial Complex

How Oversharing Became a Product in a Digital World

Darren McGarvey author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Ebury Publishing

Published:14th Aug '25

Should be back in stock very soon

This hardback is available in another edition too:

Trauma Industrial Complex cover

*The new book from the Orwell Prize-Winning author of Poverty Safari and The Social Distance Between Us*

Today, trauma permeates media, from music and television to films and books – my own included. While the increasing openness is welcome, I’ve observed that this rise has been accompanied by a parallel explosion of disinformation and sometimes harmful guidance about how to deal with personal trauma.

In Trauma Industrial Complex, I ask the question: How did we get here? And are the stories we’re telling ourselves liberating us or keeping us trapped? In this revealing and deeply personal book, I’ll pull back the curtain, sharing the hard-won wisdom I’ve gained from the events brought on by telling my own story.

Praise for Darren McGarvey:

‘An Orwell for today's poor’ – The Times
‘The standout, authentic voice of a generation’ – Herald
‘McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say’ – Nick Cohen, Guardian

Darren writes powerfully and poignantly about the unanticipated impact of becoming a poster boy for Scotland's social ills. * Observer *
An at times brutally exposing account… McGarvey shows a maturity that belies many writers on similar topics; Trauma Industrial Complex therefore succeeds as far more than memoir. * The Scotsman *
If it is taken seriously, it should have consequences… truly courageous, sincere and difficult. * The Herald *
The standout, authentic voice of a generation * Herald *
McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say -- Nick Cohen * Guardian *
An Orwell for today's poor * The Times *
An absolutely fascinating individual -- Owen Jones
Utterly compelling -- Ian Rankin * New Statesman *
Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional * Financial Times *
The quality of McGarvey's reporting and storytelling is first-rate -- John Harris * Observer *

ISBN: 9781529103892

Dimensions: 240mm x 162mm x 31mm

Weight: 521g

320 pages