Reviewed by Katie Langston, reader, writer, lover of bad movies
Gretchen Rubin’s The
Happiness Project is readable, thorough, thoughtful, practical, and
fun. It’s a “stunt” memoir – a category
of non-fiction that’s emerged over the past few years, wherein authors
undertake a certain adventure or goal for a pre-set period of time, then write
about their experiences. (Think Julie & Julia, The Year of Living
Biblically, or Eat Pray Love.)
Each month, Rubin picked several resolutions that she felt
would improve her happiness. They were
far-ranging: “go to sleep earlier,” “take time to be silly,” and “write a
novel” are just three of the 47 resolutions she attempted. It was interesting to read about the research
and thought processes that went into identifying her resolutions – and
enlightening to discover how well they did or did not work for her.
From a philosophical perspective, I thought she tried to do
a little too much – my experience is that happiness isn’t so much about doing as it is about being.
I wondered if Rubin weren’t a little too scattered in her approach, and
as a result touched on several things lightly, but never got all the way into
the heart.
Still, this was never supposed to be – nor was it pitched as
– a deep, spiritual probe into the nature of happiness; instead, it was exactly
as advertised: a fun, accessible overview of lots of different
happiness-boosting tips and tricks.
There’s a little nugget of wisdom in here for everyone – one of the best
popular self-help titles I’ve read in a while.
Market: Non-fiction, self-help, memoir
Language: mild
Sensuality: none
Violence: none
2 comments:
I've gotta read this! Good thing I gave it to you for your birthday, right Katie? May I borrow it? :) Terrific review, friend.
It's definitely a good thing you gave it to me! :-) You may certainly borrow it, friend, as long as you don't mind my random notes in the margins. :-)
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