A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, #1
212 pages
English language
Published Sept. 13, 2016 by Harper.
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on …
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
To the point.
This is an amazing book.
I watched a random video YouTube recommended about the "Do Something" principle, which led me to this book. It turned out I had already read Mark Manson's other book - Models. Thinking this would be a lame, feel-good, increase self-esteem piece of fluff, I still picked it up. To my utter surprise, this was a great book, it asked some really good questions and had some great ideas, which I won't spoil but summarizing here for you.
Overall, entertaining and useful, what more can a guy ask of a book?
As someone who often claims not to give a fuck, you mught think I don't have anything more to learn on the subject, but this book raises a lot of good points and gave me a lot to think about.
An okay read but a little too wishy washy for my liking. It's basically some Buddhism shredded up against a young person's life experience. I didn't gain much from it.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
Although false reports of rape turn up about as often as lightning strikes humans, that line turned me right off this book. Right off. It's just like finding out there's feces in your food. The author should read
Still, I finished this book.
There are quite a few interesting bits in the book for the first fifth of it, but then it veers into quasi-science, with no references to claims made. "Research has been done on," et cetera.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
Although false reports of rape turn up about as often as lightning strikes humans, that line turned me right off this book. Right off. It's just like finding out there's feces in your food. The author should read
Still, I finished this book.
There are quite a few interesting bits in the book for the first fifth of it, but then it veers into quasi-science, with no references to claims made. "Research has been done on," et cetera.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
Although false reports of rape turn up about as often as lightning strikes humans, that line turned me right off this book. Right off. It's just like finding out there's feces in your food. The author should read
Still, I finished this book.
There are quite a few interesting bits in the book for the first fifth of it, but then it veers into quasi-science, with no references to claims made. "Research has been done on," et cetera.
This book was really interesting and humorous, until I spotted this line:
As she describes in her autobiography, My Lie: A True Story of False Memory, throughout the 1980s, many women accused male family members of sexual abuse only to turn around and recant years later.
He has this really annoying thread of "millennials are subject to entitlement culture," but the stoicism and targeted effort concepts are refreshing to hear from a person who speaks more of a younger person's language.
A must-read for anyone interested in finding their own issues and getting on from them.
Not much help to find for depressed people, however, but it is great nonetheless.
A rehash of other popular self improvement books from the last decade with some personal anecdotes and snark.
First, the title tells all: If you have issues with the F-bomb peppering every other sentence, along with lots of other coarse language, this book will be unreadable for you.
Okay, still here?
Well, it started out gangbusters. Really good, interesting, different.
By the end, however, I was pretty weary of the guy, and I kept thinking, "Gosh, he is SO young." Things he breathlessly reveals about Life seem pretty obvious to me (at over sixty years in).
And I think they also would be to anyone who has ever had even a passing flirtation with Buddhism, especially Zen.
Still, his anecdotes, when not grating with a weirdly self-deprecating egotism ("Let me tell you some MORE ways that I used to be an asshole..") are fresh, sometimes surprising, and often instructive.
It especially might be of interest to people in the counseling or other therapeutic professions, since he does a …
First, the title tells all: If you have issues with the F-bomb peppering every other sentence, along with lots of other coarse language, this book will be unreadable for you.
Okay, still here?
Well, it started out gangbusters. Really good, interesting, different.
By the end, however, I was pretty weary of the guy, and I kept thinking, "Gosh, he is SO young." Things he breathlessly reveals about Life seem pretty obvious to me (at over sixty years in).
And I think they also would be to anyone who has ever had even a passing flirtation with Buddhism, especially Zen.
Still, his anecdotes, when not grating with a weirdly self-deprecating egotism ("Let me tell you some MORE ways that I used to be an asshole..") are fresh, sometimes surprising, and often instructive.
It especially might be of interest to people in the counseling or other therapeutic professions, since he does a wonderful job of shredding pop-culture self-help wisdom.
(Or you might want to secretly leave a copy on the doorstop of your favorite pity-party enthusiast).
Along those lines, I liked "If You Meet the Buddha On the Road, Kill Him," by Sheldon Kopp better. Or "Be Here Now," for that matter.
So, my take was that it's pretty good, but by the ending ("And Then You Die"), I rather felt the book had, too.
Definitely written by and for straight, white, entitled males. I have no fucks to give for this book or the author.
Changed my outlook. Immediately applicable.
Changed my outlook. Immediately applicable.
The right thoughts at the right time
