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

For a civilisation so fixated on achieving happiness, we seem remarkably incompetent at the task. 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 lead to happiness. Romance, family life and work often seem to bring stress as much 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? What if it's our constant efforts to feel happy that are making us miserable? In this fascinating new book, Oliver Burkeman introduces us to an unusual collection of people - experimental psychologists and Buddhists, terrorism experts, spiritual teachers, business consultants, philosophers - who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. 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, 'negative 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, counter-intuitive and ultimately uplifting, The Antidote is a celebration of the power of negative thinking.

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 shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the What The Papers Say Feature Writer of the Year award. He writes a popular weekly column on psychology, This Column Will Change Your Life, and has reported from London, Washington and New York. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Elle, GQ, the Observer and the New Republic. He was born in Liverpool in 1975, grew up in York, and holds a degree in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University.

Review :
* Praise for Help! by Oliver Burkeman: 'A happiness how-to-do without the cringey bits. Help! Is quite possibly invaluable Daily Mail * Addictive, wise and very funny. Burkeman never takes himself too seriously, but the rest of us should. Tim Harford, author of THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST * This is a genuinely useful book; Burkeman is not in the business of pouring automatic scorn; he really does want us to become slightly happier ... Help! is win-win. If you do find yourself with those problems which, though potentially tractable, are disproportionately aggravating, then you will find solace and good advice here. If you do not, or rather think you do not, then you will be amused anyway. Either way, you won't need to read another self-help book again. Nicholas Lezard, Guardian * Quietly subversive, beautifully written, persuasive and profound, Oliver Burkeman's book will make you think - and smile -- Alex Bellos, Author Of Alex's Adventures In Numberland * The Antidote is a gem. Countering a self-help tradition in which "positive thinking" too often takes the place of actual thinking, Oliver Burkeman returns our attention to several of philosophy's deeper traditions and does so with a light hand and a wry sense of humor. You'll come away from this book enriched - and, yes, even a little happier -- Daniel H. Pink, Author Of Drive And A Whole New Mind * Does the pursuit of happiness make us miserable? In this elegant and erudite book, Oliver Burkeman explores the riddle of joy in the 21st century. This book doesn't set out to make you happy, but that may just be why it works -- Jonah Lehrer, Author Of Imagine: How Creativity Works * Addictive, wise and very funny. Burkeman never takes himself too seriously, but the rest of us should -- Tim Harford, Author Of Adapt And The Undercover Economist * Oliver Burkeman argues for a much more sensible proposition - namely, that we've created a culture crippled bythe fear of failure, and that the most important thing we can do to enhance our psycho emotional wellbeing is to embrace uncertainty -- Maria Popova Brain Pickings * Burkeman...has written some of the most truthful and useful words on [human happiness] to be published in recent years. The knowledge Burkeman draws on may well come from others, but the book's quiet wisdom is all his own. This is a marvellous synthesis of good sense, which would make a bracing detox for the self-help junkie -- Julian Baggini Guardian * Burkeman argues, we should enjoy the journey as much as we can and deal with the terminus when it comes. It's a simple idea, but an exhilarating and satisfying one -- Alexander Larman Observer