Radical Surrender: Letting Go in a World Addicted to Control
Nov 2026 · Sold by Penguin
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272
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infoThis book will become available on November 10, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
In her new book, Radical Surrender, Anna Lembke—Stanford professor, physician, and New York Times bestselling author of Dopamine Nation, with more than 1.5 million copies sold—offers readers inspiring stories and transformative tools for letting go in a world engineered for certainty and control.
We’re living in a time of unprecedented control over almost every aspect of our day-to-day existence, from the precise way we brew and consume our favorite morning beverage, to the micro-regulation of the temperature and surround-sound audio in our car, to when and how we reproduce. No longer embedded in the greater tapestry of the universe, we now hold the world in the palms of our hands.
As such, we’ve become intolerant of uncertainty. When we encounter a circumstance we cannot predict or manage, we engage in the narcissistic defenses of denial and pathological willfulness, attempting to further bend the universe to our will.
The result? An epidemic of anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and self-loathing shame: anxiety born of the fear of choosing poorly. Loneliness a consequence of self-aggrandizement. Boredom the essence of living in a predictable world. Shame the natural byproduct of narcissism, wherein we have only ourselves to blame when life doesn’t go according to plan.
Blending relatable stories with neuroscience, Dr. Lembke argues that the antidote to modern despair is living a surrendered life. Using her personal story of loss and subsequent existential reckoning as a powerful entry point, Dr. Lembke defines surrender as the moment we acknowledge a power greater than ourselves, however we define it, and give our will over to that power: less mastery and more a return to mystery.
Science-based and deeply inspiring, Radical Surrender is the perfect book for anyone seeking more meaning and connection in our self-obsessed, hyperrational, disenchanted universe.
We’re living in a time of unprecedented control over almost every aspect of our day-to-day existence, from the precise way we brew and consume our favorite morning beverage, to the micro-regulation of the temperature and surround-sound audio in our car, to when and how we reproduce. No longer embedded in the greater tapestry of the universe, we now hold the world in the palms of our hands.
As such, we’ve become intolerant of uncertainty. When we encounter a circumstance we cannot predict or manage, we engage in the narcissistic defenses of denial and pathological willfulness, attempting to further bend the universe to our will.
The result? An epidemic of anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and self-loathing shame: anxiety born of the fear of choosing poorly. Loneliness a consequence of self-aggrandizement. Boredom the essence of living in a predictable world. Shame the natural byproduct of narcissism, wherein we have only ourselves to blame when life doesn’t go according to plan.
Blending relatable stories with neuroscience, Dr. Lembke argues that the antidote to modern despair is living a surrendered life. Using her personal story of loss and subsequent existential reckoning as a powerful entry point, Dr. Lembke defines surrender as the moment we acknowledge a power greater than ourselves, however we define it, and give our will over to that power: less mastery and more a return to mystery.
Science-based and deeply inspiring, Radical Surrender is the perfect book for anyone seeking more meaning and connection in our self-obsessed, hyperrational, disenchanted universe.
In her new book, Radical Surrender, Anna Lembke—Stanford professor, physician, and New York Times bestselling author of Dopamine Nation, with more than 1.5 million copies sold—offers readers inspiring stories and transformative tools for letting go in a world engineered for certainty and control....
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About the author
Anna Lembke is the medical director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Program, director for the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding research in mental illness, for excellence in teaching, and for clinical innovation in treatment. She has served on the boards of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before the United States House of Representatives and Senate, and keeps an active speaking calendar.
Anna Lembke is the medical director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Program, director for the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding research in mental illness, for exce...
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