How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links used. Read my full disclosure policy here.
The subtitle of How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? is essays on modern life, which sets the tone before you’ve turned the first page. In these eight essays, Pandora Sykes examines the lure of the wellness industry, the ethics of fast fashion, the pervasiveness of burnout, life as a “middling millennial”, and the distinction between our private and public selves in the age of social media.
From the outset, Sykes acknowledges her privilege informing us that “many of the anxieties I write about are, somewhat inevitably, middle-class.” For many people this qualifier may be where they put the book down, never to return to it. But in telling us this, Sykes privilege becomes a tool in her examination of modern culture.
This is most evident in Get The Look, which blends her experience as a former style columnist with a deep dive into the murky world of fast fashion and its impact on the garment workers and the environment.
How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? is a thoughtful and well researched collection, written with warmth and precision. Sykes’ self-awareness ensures that each essay is more than a surface level look at the topics of the day.
How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes is published by Hutchinson—an imprint of Penguin Random House—and is available in hardback, ebook and audiobook format.