de Mark Manson
#1 New York Times Bestseller
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 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 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*ck is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
#1 New York Times Bestseller
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 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 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*ck is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
Critiques-
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There's a lot of wisdom in this in-your-face personal growth audio, which is notable for its contrarian advice and a narrative style that sounds at once hip and adolescent. Actor and voice-over pro Roger Wayne captures most of Manson's oppositional energy, and he narrates with a lively engagement that only occasionally sounds overdone. Wayne's likability helps to moderate the writer's often bombastic writing. Manson, a popular and controversial blogger, uses over-the-top rhetoric and powerful stories to urge his listeners to be more honest with themselves, less accepting of personal growth orthodoxy, and more realistic about the suffering that comes with any kind of striving. Though Manson and his narrator at times try too hard to succeed, the audio delivers enough worthwhile ideas to make it useful. T.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
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July 15, 2016
An in-your-face guide to living with integrity and finding happiness in sometimes-painful places.Popular blogger Manson (Models: Attract Women Through Honesty, 2011) criticizes self-help books for their fundamentally flawed approach of telling readers they're special, assuring them that they can surpass--but, notably, not solve--problems, and encouraging them to embrace their exceptionalism. The author sternly disagrees, showing readers "how to pick and choose what matters to you and what does not matter to you based on finely honed values." Unlike simple affirmations or personal growth books designed to flatter or soothe, Manson urges readers to "change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success." Having better values creates better problems to solve, and those achievements will lead to a legitimately improved life. Throughout, the author continually slaps readers sharply across the face, using blunt, funny, and deceptively offhand language when expanding on his key principle: "Not giving a fuck does not mean being indifferent; it means being comfortable with being different....There's absolutely nothing admirable or confident about indifference. People who are indifferent are lame and scared. They're couch potatoes and Internet trolls....They hide in a gray, emotionless pit of their own making, self-absorbed and self-pitying, perpetually distracting themselves from this unfortunate thing demanding their time and energy called life." Manson's cheeky but thoughtful opinions combine with in-depth advice in such sections as "You're Wrong About Anything (But So Am I)" and "How To Be a Little Less Certain of Yourself" (hint: "if it's down to me being screwed up, or everybody else being screwed up, it is far, far, far more likely that I'm the one who's screwed up"). This book, full of counterintuitive suggestions that often make great sense, is a pleasure to read and worthy of rereading. A good yardstick by which self-improvement books should be measured.COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
