Who will you become when you put down your phone and pick up your life? That question sits at the center of Shannon Algeo’s new book, and it is the one he brings to Vroman’s Bookstore on Thursday, July 16, at 7 p.m., in conversation with Jennifer Pastiloff. A psychotherapist and meditation teacher, Algeo will discuss and sign “The Power in Your Hands: Liberate Yourself from Attachment to Technology.”
The book takes an unusual angle on the familiar problem of screen addiction. Rather than prescribing willpower or time limits, Algeo draws on attachment theory — the psychology of how people bond — to argue that phones have quietly become surrogate attachment figures, standing in for human intimacy. Understanding that pattern, he contends, is the first step to loosening the grip technology holds on our attention.
Algeo hosts the SoulFeed podcast and teaches at the Esalen Institute and the Kripalu Center, and he has spoken at the United Nations. He wrote much of the book while grappling with his own compulsive phone use, weaving research together with personal reckoning. Author Johann Hari called it “a moving and inspiring book about the most important topic facing all of us.”
Attendees are encouraged to buy the book from Vroman’s, which helps make the store’s author events possible.
Shannon Algeo will discuss and sign “The Power in Your Hands,” in conversation with Jennifer Pastiloff, on Thursday, July 16, at 7 p.m. Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit vromansbookstore.com. Admission is free.
