The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion

A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read and an Our Culture Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2026

It's not hard to find your tribe. The real challenge today is not losing yourself within one.

We are surrounded by tribes: political, professional, online, ideological. Each offer belonging at a price. Join, and you risk dissolving into a ready-made identity. Refuse, and you risk drifting into isolation. Either way, the modern person is pulled toward the same end: forming a fragmented self that is easier to manage, easier to sell to, and easier to recruit.

In The One and the Ninety-Nine, bestselling author Luke Burgis argues that the great crisis of our time is not simply polarization or loneliness, but a crisis of formation: it's difficult to form an identity that is solid enough to withstand the pressure of the crowd, and modern institutions don't reward the effort. Drawing from psychology, philosophy, and personal experience, Burgis shows how groups shape our desires, how "social contagion" spreads through families and institutions, and why the hunger to belong can turn ordinary people into instruments of movements they barely understand.

This book is about the missing skill that makes real community possible: learning how to remain oneself while staying connected to others. Burgis offers a practical map for recognizing false belonging, escaping coercive dynamics, and passing through the rites of passage that produce people with integrity and courage.

The One and the Ninety-Nine is a timely and inspiring wake-up call, an invitation to reject counterfeit community and develop depth of personality--to become someone who can stand alone--so that we can finally stand together.

Author: Luke Burgis
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 06/16/2026
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 9.51h x 6.37w x 1.01d
ISBN: 9781250373038

About the Author
Luke Burgis is the director of The Cluny Institute and a professor at The Catholic University of America, where he studies the invisible forces that shape human behavior. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Michigan with his wife, Claire, and their children.