Review of Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar
If you can stand to read the word “happy” and its derivitaves 35 billion times, then you’ll probably get through this book. I should warn the reader, however, that if you picked up Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment hoping it would unlock the door to happiness and make your life suddenly super, you’re going to be disappointed. Happiness is work. You can’t just find it and hold it forever—you have to have a little common sense, a taste for introspection, and something meaningful in your life. You might even have all of those things and still be unhappy, but this book probably won’t fix that for you.
The author’s research is solid and his point of view is attractive. There are always new ways of looking at old things, especially when there are books to be written and people so willing to part with their cash. But do you really need to buy the book to know how to be happy? Probably not. You might want to read it as an interesting exercise in psychology or sociology, but if you want to help yourself and find simplified solutions to impossible problems, there are lots of books containing empty promises and important-sounding fluff out there that will surely satisfy your desires.
But, for an interesting take on a timeless problem, go ahead and read this book. It was quite interesting and I had many AHA! moments….
