A self-help guide with a difference

Sociology; The End Of Average; By Todd Rose; Allen Lane, €26.60

Marilyn Monroe: her proportions did not meet scientific ideals, but this hardly damaged her careerPicture: Getty

Twas recently the season to imbibe and celebrate with wild abandon; now ‘tis the season for the onslaught of prescriptive, self-improvement tomes. Eat less, move about, love yourself more...they often amount to a one-size-fits-all instruction manual, as reductive as they are unoriginal. So far, so dispiriting, but Todd Rose - fast establishing himself as a vivid new thinker – is providing a vital shard in the slipstream.

Amid this blizzard, Rose doesn’t provide ...