A review by eleanorjmca
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

challenging funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

2.0

There are a few good insights buried in this book, once you get past the annoying writing style. But the message is often confused and sometimes outright contradicted - the central idea is that a good life is one lived in accordance with "good values", but exactly what makes a value good is unclear and seems to change chapter to chapter. Why did the Japanese soldier who lived life entirely according to his code of honour and loyalty have "shitty values"? Similarly, the chapter on mortality strongly criticises "immortality projects" but then says that your legacy is the single most important thing to consider in life. While the central concept - that choosing what you want to focus on in life and ignoring what's not important - holds, I'm not sure that's revolutionary advice in itself and was expecting more detail on how to judge what's important. Still, there are some thought experiments here that may be of use to some people, if you can get past the irony of a book that constantly disparages the "entitled" and selfish while espousing a strikingly self-centred philosophy; high individualism drips from every page. I found it challenging to finish.
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