The subtle art of not giving a f*ck: a counterinuitive approach to living a good life - By Mark Manson

The subtle art of not giving a f*ck: a counterintuitive approach to living a good life

By: Mark Manson

2016

Harper, 224 pages

Synopsis – In this profane and irreverent title, blogger Mark Manson has some startling messages for us; we try too hard, our pursuit of happiness causes misery, you are not special, suffering is good, you always have a choice, failure is good, hearing and saying no is good, and we’re all going to die. Other than you always have a choice, saying no is good and we’re all going to die, most of his ideas appear counterintuitive on the surface. However, when the reader digs into this book they will find that Manson has some good points.

Don’t worry, Manson is not here to tell you your life is meaningless and pointless but he does give some good counterpoints to the “If you dream it you can be it” B.S. that most of us were taught. Manson wants us to be selective about what we put our efforts into or where we place our f*cks because life is short and we only have so many f*cks to give.

Rather he suggests that we place our energies and effort into caring for and striving for things that truly fit important lasting values. Manson makes a strong argument that many of our problems occur because we have entitlement issues. We feel entitled to always succeed and to not suffer, or conversely, we feel entitled to always fail and always suffer. Either perspective is a heap of trouble. His final message regarding death is that to truly appreciate our lives we need to keep the perspective that life is short and we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. This perspective helps us realize that all the trivial superficial issues in our lives are truly not worth giving a f*ck about.

Title Characteristics

Genre –  Humor Writing.
Subject Terms - Conduct of life. Self-realization. 
SELF-HELP -- Motivational & Inspirational. 
SELF-HELP -- Personal Growth -- Happiness.
SELF-HELP -- Personal Growth -- Success. 
Tone/Mood – Funny; Irreverent; Self-Depreciating; Thought-Provoking; Iconoclastic.
Pace - Leisurely 

Style/Language –Candid; Conversational.

Personal Observation – As someone who enjoys profane irreverent humor and gives entirely too many f*cks, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, thought provoking title. A perspective changing concept for me was the idea that solving problems leaves us with more, slightly better problems. His point being that we need to learn to enjoy problem solving whether we fail or succeed because life is essentially a series of problems. It never ends. An example of this was my striving to be promoted from Assistant Reference Librarian to Adult Services Manager. I achieved this goal or “solved the problem” but believe me when I say I now have a whole host of new problems in this new position. You have to enjoy the journey.

Read-alikes (Novelist Plus)

1.     The book of Leon - Leon Black

2.     Theft by finding – David Sedaris

3.     Grace’s guide – Grace Helbig

4.     Bad advice – Venus Nicolino

5.     I regret nothing – Jen Lancaster

Sources

Novelist Plus. (2019). Read-alikes for The subtle art of not giving a f*ck.

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