The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking

· Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
4.3
28 reviews
Ebook
256
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Self-help books don't seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting our collective mood. Wealth—even if you can get it—doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Romance, family life, and work often bring as much stress as joy. We can't even agree on what "happiness" means. So are we engaged in a futile pursuit? Or are we just going about it the wrong way?

Looking both east and west, in bulletins from the past and from far afield, Oliver Burkeman introduces us to an unusual group of people who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. Whether experimental psychologists, terrorism experts, Buddhists, hardheaded business consultants, Greek philosophers, or modern-day gurus, they argue that in our personal lives, and in society at large, it's our constant effort to be happy that is making us miserable. And that there is an alternative path to happiness and success that involves embracing failure, pessimism, insecurity, and uncertainty—the very things we spend our lives trying to avoid. Thought-provoking, counterintuitive, and ultimately uplifting, The Antidote is the intelligent person's guide to understanding the much-misunderstood idea of happiness.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
28 reviews
A Google user
January 16, 2023
About this ebook Self-help books don't seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting our collective mood. Wealth—even if you can get it—doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Romance, family life, and work often bring as much stress as joy. We can't even agree on what "happiness" means. So are we engaged in a futile pursuit? Or are we just going about it the wrong way?
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Carlos
April 6, 2013
I've read a lot of the materials in the past, but since its been years since I've picked up a book and sat down and actually read anything, it was exciting for me. I've lived a Buddhist life quite a while now. While I never really looked into stoicism, It's definitely on my list of something else to look into. The book was insightful to me I would definitely recommend it.
4 people found this review helpful
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Erin Rasmussen
July 21, 2018
Delivers on the promise of the title.
3 people found this review helpful
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About the author

Oliver Burkeman is a feature writer for The Guardian. He is a winner of the Foreign Press Association's Young Journalist of the Year award, and has been short-listed for the Orwell Prize. He writes a popular weekly column on psychology, "This Column Will Change Your Life," and has reported from New York, London, and Washington. He lives in New York City.

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