A Review: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

I first spotted Ego Is the Enemy years ago, sticking out of someone’s bag in the kitchen of an office I rented back in the mid-teenies. The title caught my eye, so I bought the Kindle version there and then. It’s taken me until now to actually read it.

It’s a good book, and I think it’s helped me understand what ego really is and, perhaps more importantly, that mine isn’t as bad as I thought.

It’s a very American book. A lot of the examples, stories, and metaphors are drawn from American history and sport, and I found myself having to look up quite a few of the references. That detracted from it a little for me.
There were also a few too many chapters that felt similar, with long retellings of historical figures who’d come undone because of their ego. Still, I did enjoy learning something new about Kirk Hammett: I hadn’t expected Metallica to make an appearance in a book about philosophy and self-awareness.

The biggest thing I took away was the idea of letting go of grudges. Instead of holding on to resentment, try to ‘love’ those people instead.

All in all, I’m glad I finally got around to reading it, even if it took me the better part of a decade to do so.

ISBN-13: 978-1781257029

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