The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations is a 1979 book by the cultural historian Christopher Lasch, in which he explores the roots and ramifications of the normalizing of pathological narcissism in 20th century American culture using psychological, cultural, artistic and historical synthesis. For the mass market edition published in September of the same year, Lasch won the 1980 U.S. National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).