[1] For the mass-market edition published in September of the same year,[1] Lasch won the 1980 US National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).

[2][a] Lasch proposes that since World War II, America has produced a personality-type consistent with clinical definitions of "pathological narcissism".

An early response to The Culture of Narcissism commented that Lasch had identified the outcomes in American society of the decline of the family over the previous century.

The book quickly became a bestseller and a talking point, being further propelled to success after Lasch notably visited Camp David to advise President Jimmy Carter for his "crisis of confidence" speech of July 15, 1979.

Author Louis Menand argues that the book has been commonly misused by liberals and conservatives alike, who cited it for their own ideological agendas.