A brilliantly illustrated new series exploring the important questions in art and life today. For details of published and forthcoming books in the series, click hereEveryone projects an image of themselves, but rarely does it accord with others' perceptions. Everyone carries memories from the past, but often they are selective distortions of the truth. Everyone has a life story to tell, but usually it is closer to fiction than fact. In this unique 'exhibition in a book', all the artists question how identity is formed in a global world, and explore the changing role of the individual in modern society in short, they expand our understanding of what it means to be alive. Some claim to reveal the private details of their lives in shows of intimacy; others seek to hide behind invented alter egos or carefully designed images or personae. Some present the pure facts of their daily routines, while others try to capture themselves in self-reflection. Some explore the influence of the media or political and social systems on our sense of who we are, while others explore the impact of ethnic or racial background on self-identity the need to project one image within the security of the family and another in the glare of a hostile public gaze.