Welcome to Aeon’s archive week. Every so often we like to give the spotlight to a selection of past, outstanding Aeon Essays. This time, we’re celebrating Essays that have led to successful books. Below you’ll find a link to one such Essay, as well as an exclusive quote from the author. You’ll also find an exceptional video from our library which has a thematic connection to the work.

From this Essay, Olivia Laing went on to have success with their book The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone (2016).

‘When Aeon published Olivia Laing’s essay on the peculiar pain of loneliness, they were just beginning to write “The Lonely City”, a career-making book that seemed to name and explain a condition of modern living that had been weirdly overlooked, yet was part and parcel of anonymous big-city life. The book won Olivia plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic. The essay that preceded the book is a fine example of Olivia’s fluid and easy confessional style, which moves between sharing personal intimacies, sharp cultural commentary and deep intellectual analysis. Edward Hopper’s painting perfectly complements its mood. “Me, Myself and I” is one of those Aeon essays that remains evergreen in continually drawing new readers.’

– Marina Benjamin, Senior Editor at Aeon Media who commissioned this Essay