Stolen Focus
Johann Hari argues that the collapse of modern attention is not a personal failure but a structural one, and he sets out to investigate what is actually doing it. Starting with a three-month digital-detox on the coast of Massachusetts, he then interviews attention researchers, former Silicon Valley engineers, educators, nutrition scientists, chronic-stress specialists, and ADHD clinicians across the United States, the United Kingdom, and beyond. The book walks through twelve forces that Hari argues are pulling focus apart, from engagement-optimized social media and the collapse of deep reading to air pollution, short-acting stimulants, chronic sleep deprivation, and the disappearance of unsupervised play. Published in 2022, Stolen Focus is structured as a reporting trip, and it ends on a program of collective rather than purely individual remedies.
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What you might want to know about Stolen Focus
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Journalist Johann Hari travels for three years and talks to more than two hundred experts to argue that focus is being deliberately broken by social platforms, work culture, food, and bad sleep.
Stolen Focus draws on real research, but Johann Hari has been criticized in the past for selective sourcing and plagiarism in earlier work. The book is widely read, but readers may want to verify specific claims.
Stolen Focus was written by Johann Hari, published in 2022 by Crown.
Stolen Focus is 369 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Stolen Focus takes most readers 6 to 8 hours to finish.
Stolen Focus is a standalone novel by Johann Hari, not part of a series.
Stolen Focus is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.