A review by oneskyolder
What If This Were Enough? by Heather Havrilesky
1.0
I really wanted to like this book. I've read a couple of pieces from Ask Polly and found them to be deeply comforting because Havrilesky is so attuned to the human experience. But this book was so frustrating that I couldn't finish it.
Let's start with the title: What If This Were Enough? You'd think it's an implication that our imperfect lives are actually enough; an invitation to readers to extend gratitude towards the everyday! You're wrong.
The book is meant to be a critique on cultural forces like materialism, consumerism, and minimalism. It's just not a particularly productive one, because it reads like a litany of cliché complaints. Havrilesky's analyses are neither incisive nor insightful. She makes sweeping statements with no evidence to back them up, and is at times hyperbolic. She criticizes everything: 50 Shades of Grey, millennials, foodies, Disneyland, the list goes on. Ultimately, she comes across as judgmental, cynical, and bitter to me.
Since she doesn't offer readers any suggestions for how we might better navigate this bleak world she's constructed, I'm left wondering what the point of this book is. The last straw for me was when she referred to Marie Kondo as a 'personality disorder in motion'.
I've only read less than half of the book, so it's entirely possible that the later chapters are more insightful. But my rising blood pressure every time I read this book tells me that I don't have the patience to stick around and find out.
Let's start with the title: What If This Were Enough? You'd think it's an implication that our imperfect lives are actually enough; an invitation to readers to extend gratitude towards the everyday! You're wrong.
The book is meant to be a critique on cultural forces like materialism, consumerism, and minimalism. It's just not a particularly productive one, because it reads like a litany of cliché complaints. Havrilesky's analyses are neither incisive nor insightful. She makes sweeping statements with no evidence to back them up, and is at times hyperbolic. She criticizes everything: 50 Shades of Grey, millennials, foodies, Disneyland, the list goes on. Ultimately, she comes across as judgmental, cynical, and bitter to me.
Since she doesn't offer readers any suggestions for how we might better navigate this bleak world she's constructed, I'm left wondering what the point of this book is. The last straw for me was when she referred to Marie Kondo as a 'personality disorder in motion'.
I've only read less than half of the book, so it's entirely possible that the later chapters are more insightful. But my rising blood pressure every time I read this book tells me that I don't have the patience to stick around and find out.