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Against Happiness
Book

Against Happiness

FSG, 2008 更多详情

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Well Structured
  • Overview

Recommendation

In this candid and unconventional book, English professor and humanist Eric G. Wilson positions himself as melancholy’s champion. He does everything but wave gloomy pom-poms as he extols its role in creativity and invention. As counterintuitive and loopy as his view may seem, Wilson makes a strong, lucid case for feeling glum. Indeed, reading Wilson’s book may inspire you trade in your grin for a wholehearted frown. If you seek a change from the deluge of cheery self-help tomes, or if you want to expand your outlook, then step out of the sunshine and into the shadows with this iconoclastic book. Although Wilson sometimes rambles or digresses in making his argument, getAbstract finds that his book thoughtfully affirms the power of negative thinking.

Summary

Creativity’s Spur

Ernest Hemingway, Jackson Pollock, Winston Churchill and Sigmund Freud: These cultural icons and historical heavyweights were true melancholics, or, more simply put, depressed people. In every age and in every walk of life, you can find countless examples of other exceptionally talented and notable melancholics – from leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Napoléon Bonaparte to celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant. Indeed, if melancholia were a country, its population would include some of the globe’s most brilliant intellectuals, artists, business titans and politicians.

In some people, melancholy triggers stupendous creativity and achievement. Singer and composer Joni Mitchell calls it “the sand that makes the pearl.” She claims that her best work stems from the gloomiest periods of her life. Mitchell respects, even honors, her blue states. She says, “Chase away the demons and they will take the angels with them,” meaning that accepting the darker parts of herself is essential to recognizing and understanding the good. Former Beatles member and music icon John Lennon also penned many of his most memorable lyrics during times of great loss...

About the Author

Eric G. Wilson is an English professor at Wake Forest University. A former National Humanities Center fellow, he is the author of numerous books about the literary-psychology nexus.


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