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cinchona's review against another edition
2.0
This book had high points and low points, but overall was clear and complete about its moral: positive thinking is delusional and bad. Ehrenreich connects positive thinking to cancer patients, megachurches, the housing crisis, and positive psychology.
I feel like the book format wasn't ideal for this concept: I think it would make a fantastic documentary.
I feel like the book format wasn't ideal for this concept: I think it would make a fantastic documentary.
libraryzen's review against another edition
2.0
Somewhat entertaining. Oh my God she gets dramatic at the thought of “inequality” at the end. Calvinism is quite stupid, but I do agree with their point that you have nobody else to blame but yourself if you don’t have a pot to piss in.
kek513's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
willbefunorelse's review against another edition
2.0
For the full review (including a plea for action instead of hipsterish passiveness), follow the link to That's What She Read.
jeffbrimhall's review against another edition
Audiobook: Good discussion of trend towards extreme positivity in religion, culture, and world views in society. Discussion of negative impacts of this—people refusing to recognize reality. Interesting perspective. Don’t think most people recognize that this positivity bit isn’t the way everyone everywhere has always been.
miq33l's review against another edition
5.0
Bright-Sided is a very concise and succinct denial of modern obsession with positive thinking. Ehrenreich takes us on a journey from her personal cancer story, through the history of the development of the positive psychology and its applications in different areas of life to the recent economic crash.
The book is extremely well resourced, with references to multitude of research articles, papers, books and websites. The author makes a very strong case for the dark-side of the positive thinking attitude. It reads very well, language is clear and the book structure easy to follow.
I really enjoyed this book, even though I consider myself to be an optimist (realization that I surprised myself with recently). I think that this should be a compulsory reading for every person who lists The Secret on their read books list. Bright-Sided is a very lucid denial of the positive thinking ideology presented in The Secret, and many other books from that ilk.
I highly recommend this book if you have doubts about positive psychology (or if you believe in it - always good to question your own beliefs). It is a nice dose of realism. In Ehrenreich's own words:
"The effort of positive "thought control", which is always present as such a life preserver, has become a potentially deadly weight - obscuring judgement and shielding us from vital information. Sometimes we need to heed our fears and negative thoughts, and at all times we need to be alert to the world outside ourselves, even when that includes absorbing bad news and entertaining the views of negative people. As we should have learned by now, it is dangerous not to."
The book is extremely well resourced, with references to multitude of research articles, papers, books and websites. The author makes a very strong case for the dark-side of the positive thinking attitude. It reads very well, language is clear and the book structure easy to follow.
I really enjoyed this book, even though I consider myself to be an optimist (realization that I surprised myself with recently). I think that this should be a compulsory reading for every person who lists The Secret on their read books list. Bright-Sided is a very lucid denial of the positive thinking ideology presented in The Secret, and many other books from that ilk.
I highly recommend this book if you have doubts about positive psychology (or if you believe in it - always good to question your own beliefs). It is a nice dose of realism. In Ehrenreich's own words:
"The effort of positive "thought control", which is always present as such a life preserver, has become a potentially deadly weight - obscuring judgement and shielding us from vital information. Sometimes we need to heed our fears and negative thoughts, and at all times we need to be alert to the world outside ourselves, even when that includes absorbing bad news and entertaining the views of negative people. As we should have learned by now, it is dangerous not to."
thetofuterror's review against another edition
3.75
I was hoping for a ruthless evisceration of the idiotic cult of positive thinking and "manifesting." This book is well researched and easy to read, but Ehrenreich pulls too many of her punches. She gives us the delightful word "flapdoodle," which perfectly describes the mindless drivel of positivity. She points out many inconsistencies and the hypocrisy of the positivity industry. But she seems determined to hide behind intellectual niceness instead of going for the jugular, which is a bit disappointing. Still, well worth the read. Hopefully this book will shake some people awake and get them to focus on reality.
11corvus11's review against another edition
DNF at about 10% in. I am pretty sure I agree with her general thesis, but gave up when she described having a body as a "retarded siamese twin dragging along behind me, a hysteric, really." I'm all about self deprecation and negativity to a fault, but this was written in 2009 and multiple people including the author think using slurs is a good way to get this point across.