The author&#x27;s claim to &quot;a kind of nervous contrarianism&quot; in searching for new directions for growth is interesting. I think it highlights the limits of arbitrary aesthetics as detached from the more concrete needs of life. The themes in Hess&#x27;s the Glass Bead Game come to mind - Hess builds a beautiful ivory tower of pure ideas, detached from reality, and then tears it down before your eyes, bringing the focus back to people and their need for growth.<p>I like the idea (can&#x27;t remember where I saw it) for a service that helps connect readers with books that would help them with their evolution. I think this idea is powerful and can take the idea of self-help to a much deeper level that encompasses spirituality and psychological well-being rather than just fads and fashion trends by helping people find novels that aren&#x27;t straightforwardly &quot;about&quot; an area of life but happen to address it deeply in their own way.