Reading recommendations from Redface author, Russell Norris
Posted on February 03 2021
Russell Norris, author of Redface: How I Learnt to Live with Social Anxiety, has created this list of books which have helped him through his struggle with Social Anxiety Disorder. To purchase any of these books or read more about them, please check out our list on Bookshop.org. Redface publishes on 1st April 2021 and can be pre-ordered here.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
This book is well-known, nowadays. But when it first came out of nowhere in 2012 it was a revelation. It sparked a global movement and brought a new narrative into focus: how being a quiet or reserved person isn’t a weakness...but an undervalued strength.
The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry
Two things make this important for me. First, it’s written by a man on a subject that men don’t talk about: masculinity. Second, it’s written from a very British perspective. It reveals the powerful negativity a lot of men can harbour. And how they can channel it for good.
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elain N. Aron
You know that moment in most X-Men movies, when a young mutant discovers there are others in the world just like them? I felt a bit like that when I read this book. It gave a name to the kind of person I am. And described how I feel every day when I step out into the world.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
This book is highbrow and hard-going at times. But it’s full of searing moments of honesty from a man living through depression. I read it at the impressionable age of 21 and parts of it never left me. Particularly the extremes Solomon went to as he tried to escape from his pain.