Are you on your first or second mountain? Is life about yourself or others? Are you self-improving or committed?

Mainstream culture teaches us that human beings pursue our self-interest - money, power, fame. But at some point in our life we might discover that we're not interested in what other people tell us to want. We want to want the things that are truly worthy of wanting. At this point, you have moved to your second mountain.

What does it mean to elevate your desires, to look beyond consumption and find a moral cause? To forget about independence and discover dependence - to be utterly enmeshed in a web of warm relationships? What does it mean to want intimacy, devotion, responsibility and commitment above individual freedom? In The Second Mountain David Brooks explores the meaning and possibilities that scaling a second mountain offer us, and the four commitments that most commonly move us there: family, vocation, philosophy and community. Inspiring, personal and full of joy, this is the start of a deeper journey into the world.

David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and frequent broadcaster. His previous books include the bestsellers The Social Animal and Bobos in Paradise. His New York Times columns reach over 800,000 readers across the globe.