Judged: The Value of Being Misunderstood

Judging other people and being judged by them is an inescapable part of our social reality. There is no occasion in which we can be a social being in the world without participating in acts of judgement. Our increasing preoccupation with online 'selves' only serves to intensify and extend this experience of constantly having a reputation to maintain and protect. Ziyad Marar's provocative and thoroughly engaging exploration of judgement in our contemporary world is an urgent work responding to the fragility of reputation - when one careless tweet can destroy a career or one foolish image can damage a life - and our determination to judge at every available opportunity. This book traces our journeys in judgement using examples from the everyday and popular culture including Breaking Bad, Shakespeare and the works of Philip Roth.

Ziyad Marar accepts that certain judgements are inevitable but questions whether judgement can continue to exist without social empathy and whether, in the end, our reputations are as important as we think they are.