BOOK 194: THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK: MARK MANSON
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger shows us that the key to being happier is to stop trying to be “positive” all the time and instead to become better at handling adversity.
For decades we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life.
But those days are over. “Fuck positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest; sometimes things are fucked up and we have to live with it.” For the past few years, Manson—via his wildly popular blog—has been working on correcting our delusional expectations for ourselves and for the world. He now brings his hard-fought wisdom to this groundbreaking book.
Manson makes the argument—backed by both 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 better stomach lemons. Human beings are flawed and limited—as he writes, “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. This, he says, is the real source of empowerment. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties—once we stop running from and avoiding, and start confronting painful truths—we can begin to find the courage and confidence we desperately seek.
“In life, we have a limited amount of fucks to give. So you must choose your fucks wisely.” Manson brings a much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor. This manifesto is a refreshing slap in the face for all of us so that we can start to lead more contented, grounded lives.
MY VERDICT: I started off by really enjoying this book, the reference to Bukowski in the first chapter spoke to me. But after that, this book kind of lost me. The advice seemed to repeat itself over and over, and although the message of the book, which was to focus on some things to care about and learn that some things are not worth spending time worrying about was good, it didn’t seem enough to fill a book. I think this advice was better suited to a pamphlet to be honest. I read to the end but I had already become quite bored and couldn’t wait to finish it – luckily it was quite short.
