Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Bleep: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

I found this book to be a good summary for many other books that I have read but it's a tiresome read for me. I much preferred other books that went into detail on the same points (The Earned Life, Four Thousand Weeks, etc) and didn't have to resort to language to make a point. Still, I recognize there is an audience for this book.

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shetland_pone's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

2023: Every time I reread this book I feel differently about it, to some extent. Parts of it are contradictory and I think the quality decreases as the book continues, but the first few chapters are useful. Choosing your pain, responsibility and fault being different things, accepting that being average is okay, etc. But once it gets past that point it seems like he just wants to brag about his previous sexual escapades. I guess he's trying to come across as honest, relatable, and vulnerable by writing about his past and where he felt he went wrong, but instead it just seems like he's screaming I'M FUCKABLE, I SWEAR at us all.

2022: Still an immensely useful book to me. I don't think Manson is always right, especially as it seems as if he's never experienced systemic discrimination, but I do think he has a lot of good points. Maybe one day I'll stop blocking out the bits I don't want to hear lol.

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eleanorjmca's review against another edition

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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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