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A review by mandirigma
What If This Were Enough? by Heather Havrilesky
4.0
3.5/5 stars
I had mixed feelings on nearly every one of these essays. I appreciate what Havrilesky explores in these essays -- the manufactured happiness of Disneyland, the role of gurus like Tim Ferris, what social media and ideas of success are doing to our culture -- and her main ideas on consumerism and capitalism and the cult of positivity really resonate with me. But each of the essays starts out with pop culture criticism and kind of meander to her point. I was tempted to skip a few essays either because I had gotten a few pages in and still wasn't quite sure or interested enough in where she was headed, or because I actually hadn't seen/read whichever piece she was critiquing (Revolution, Billions, After Claude, John Updike's Rabbit novels, there were really so many references in this book that I had no experience with). I stuck it through all of the essays and was ultimately glad that I did, though I felt many of the essays focused too much on the pop culture references and criticism, and by the time the essays were done it felt like she was barely scratching the surface of her thesis.
Still, I really appreciated what she was getting at in each of these essays. This is a good collection that reminds you to slow down, look behind the curtain, and embrace the regular imperfections of life.
I had mixed feelings on nearly every one of these essays. I appreciate what Havrilesky explores in these essays -- the manufactured happiness of Disneyland, the role of gurus like Tim Ferris, what social media and ideas of success are doing to our culture -- and her main ideas on consumerism and capitalism and the cult of positivity really resonate with me. But each of the essays starts out with pop culture criticism and kind of meander to her point. I was tempted to skip a few essays either because I had gotten a few pages in and still wasn't quite sure or interested enough in where she was headed, or because I actually hadn't seen/read whichever piece she was critiquing (Revolution, Billions, After Claude, John Updike's Rabbit novels, there were really so many references in this book that I had no experience with). I stuck it through all of the essays and was ultimately glad that I did, though I felt many of the essays focused too much on the pop culture references and criticism, and by the time the essays were done it felt like she was barely scratching the surface of her thesis.
Still, I really appreciated what she was getting at in each of these essays. This is a good collection that reminds you to slow down, look behind the curtain, and embrace the regular imperfections of life.