Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion is a 2019 essay collection by Jia Tolentino, a journalist and cultural critic best known for her book reviews, personal essays, and analyses of the millennial generation in publications such as The New Yorker and Jezebel. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize or Best First Book, Trick Mirror's essays analyze different aspects of culture and society and the resulting distortions of self that they produce. This guide refers to the 2019 Kindle version of the text (ASIN : B07L2JGLZ9).

Tolentino introduces her own work, contextualizing it as writing produced in the context of the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath. She then begins the collection with "The I in Internet," which traces the development of the internet in terms of its social and psychological effects, as well as Tolentino's own use of it. Tolentino focuses on her personal history in "Reality TV Me," which describes her time on a reality show as a teenager.

Tolentino uses a combination of personal narrative and analysis of larger social trends in "Always Be Optimizing," in which she describes society's current ideal woman and the ways in which athleisure trends reflect her.