A counterintuitive approach to living a better life
English language
Published April 2, 2016 by Harper One.
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. "Fk positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is fked 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 modern 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 …
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. "Fk positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is fked 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 modern 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 fk 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 Fk is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
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.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book... I'm not much for "self-help" type stuff... but I could get down with what Mark Manson has to say.
The book flows along at a pretty decent clip. And while f-bombs abound, the book's not nearly as crass or abrasive as the title might make it seem.
Read through it over the course of a few nights. If I had any complaints, it's that is just seemed to kind of end. Reading along and next thing you know "ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS" but that's got to say something that I didn't realize I was nearing the end of things...
Curious to see what else this guy is is up to!
The right thoughts at the right time
Everyone should read this.
