Mark Manson
2016
Harper Collins
pp. 224
One of the few books in the self help genre that I have ended up reading and liking. My experience of reading in this area is limited and had not been for the Extraordinary Reading Challenge by The Curious Reader, I probably wouldn’t have read this one. It wasn’t a quick read because I couldn’t develop an interest in it. Initially I found it a bit repetitive, and similar to the advice that all other self help books seem to be providing.
However, the second half was more intriguing, probably because Manson started referring to psychological theories. Some of the notions made sense and some were good critiques. Even the classic theories were referred to with freshness and the anecdotes suddenly started becoming more relatable. It is also at this point that I felt that he had read enough to be talking what he is talking. So in the end it seemed worth picking it up.
Like all self help books, you have to be in the right frame of mind to capture what they are trying to tell you. Pick it up with care. Ofcourse you can open it randomly and hope that what you read seems relevant at that time.
I haven’t quite understood, in life and in this book, the need to use expletives, except maybe to garner sales. And the title is completely contradictory to the advice that he is giving.