A review by dragonrider29
Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine by Derren Brown

4.0

An extremely thought provoking and useful book for those of us searching for a way to live a 'better life'. Mainly based on Stoic wisdom Derren Brown walks us through a history of happiness and presents the basic Stoic precepts in a way that make sense to a modern audience but lose none of their ancient wisdom and power. Definitely not a how-to book but a series of profound questions, queries and examples that help you use your own powers of reasoning to see things from a different and more helpful perspective. I didn't know much about the Stoics on starting this book but can see how their philosophies for living a better life are every bit as relevant now and perhaps even more necessary to find a way of living a good life in this crazy world. I found the chapters on death to be interesting, enlightening and strangely comforting and certainly changed my thoughts on the afterlife, undoubtedly for the better. All in all an excellent and worthwhile read that could serve as a springboard to other works and hopefully a 'better life'.