Stranger in the Mirror

”[Robert Levine] offers an intriguing set of examples of how frequently we experience multiple identities without recognizing them as such… . Out of these varied examples, Levine creates an engaging tapestry that illustrates how, often, what we think of as our fixed identity is an illusion. A provocative and convincing case of the malleability of what we think of as ‘our self, which in reality is a multiplicity of characters’ developed through time and circumstances.” Kirkus Reviews

“Robert Levine’s exhilarating journey in his classic A Geography of Time is amplified and nuanced in his new enchanting search for multiplexivity of the self. Witty, wise and wonderfully entertaining reading from its opening challenging paradox to its inspiring closing. It is surely a “must read” now selection.” Philip G. Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and author of The Lucifer Effect?

Robert Levine grew up in Brooklyn New York. After graduating high school in 1963, he enrolled at UC Berkeley where he had the blind good luck to experience the sixties from hippy central. After Berkeley, he went on to get a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in personality/social psychology from New York University in 1974. He was a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fresno from then until his death in 2019, with stints as Chairperson of the Department and as Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. Over the years he also served as a Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brazil, at Sapporo Medical University in Japan, and at Stockholm University in Sweden. He won awards for both his teaching and research. He published many articles in professional journals as well as articles in trade periodicals such as Discover, American Demographics, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and American Scientist. His book, A Geography of Time (Basic Books, 1997), was the subject of feature stories around the world, including Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, CNN, the BBC, ABC’s Primetime, and NPR’s All Things Considered and Marketplace. It has been translated into six languages. His book, The Power of Persuasion: How We’re Bought and Sold (John Wiley & Sons, 2003), has been translated into eight languages. An updated, paperback revision was published in 2006. He was former President of the Western Psychological Association and a Fellow in the American Psychological Association.