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A review by beholderess
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman
3.0
I've had high hopes for this book, as I do in fact hate positive thinking and the cult of optimism.
However, I think this book is lacking deep research and evidence, except anecdotal, about whether the negative capacity techniques the author suggests instead actually lead to a better life. More often than not, an example of one extraordinary person is taken as the main evidence.
Plus this book seems to lack a unified central thread. Here is this person with this interesting idea, and another with that, and next chapter is yet another with that, and it is not immediately clear how does it come together.
The author's understanding of positive psychology also seems a bit haphazard and lacking - he pretty much lumps everything characteristic of the contemporary American corporate self-help under that label.
That being said, I've still enjoyed the book, and I have learned some new things
However, I think this book is lacking deep research and evidence, except anecdotal, about whether the negative capacity techniques the author suggests instead actually lead to a better life. More often than not, an example of one extraordinary person is taken as the main evidence.
Plus this book seems to lack a unified central thread. Here is this person with this interesting idea, and another with that, and next chapter is yet another with that, and it is not immediately clear how does it come together.
The author's understanding of positive psychology also seems a bit haphazard and lacking - he pretty much lumps everything characteristic of the contemporary American corporate self-help under that label.
That being said, I've still enjoyed the book, and I have learned some new things