Includes bibliographical references and index.

A witty and wide-ranging investigation of the central problem of our time: how to save ourselves from what we want. This is journalist Akst's irreverent search for answers, delving into overeating, overspending, procrastination, anger, addiction, wayward sexual attraction and most of the other homely transgressions that bedevil us daily in a world of freedom, prosperity and technological empowerment. Akst ransacks history, literature, psychology, philosophy and economics to alarm, teach, empower and, at the very least, entertain. Using self-control as a lens rather than a cudgel, he draws a vivid picture of the many-sided problem of desire--and delivers a blueprint for how we can steer shrewdly toward the wants we most want for ourselves. At stake is not just our health but our humanity, for what could make us more fully human than the ability to set aside impulse when we choose to do so?--From publisher description.