The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck
A Counterintuitive Approach to Living A Good Life
eBook
- 2016
A humorous self-help guide helps readers figure out the things that they should care about to lead contented, grounded lives.
"In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. For decades, we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Mason doesn't sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is--a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let's-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up. Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited--"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek. There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives"-- Provided by publisher.
Explore Further
Subject Headings

Loading...
Comment
Add a CommentI thought it was self indulgent and beyond boring. Stop whining and look for solutions.
I was enjoying it so well, I bought my own copy without finishing it (13 more people were waiting!)
Starts off kind of funny but not really a good book and with 3 pages to the end, I left it on the night stand for 3-4 days. Not a strong ending clearly!
Listen to audio in high speed, to see if would be worth reading in instead. Not worth reading or recommending book.
This book is pretty nice. It teaches you to stop caring about the stuff that you really don't care about, and start caring about the stuff that you really do care about. For instance, if you care about your parents, start caring more. If you don't care about a certain coworker, just ignore them and don't give a f*ck about them. That's basically the main message in this book.
.
.
If you liked my book review, follow me on aclibrary.org! :D The 5 seconds it takes to follow me will make me so happy :DDDDDDD
An absolute bore!
You’re thinking it’s going to be a testosterone-filled, white male rage book of Neanderthal sentences formed into short chapters with a catchy title created explicitly to generate attention, fame and profit. Not all of that is wrong, but as someone who hates reading anything like that, I loved reading this. It was straightforward and funny but not funny like you’re in on the joke or with any inference of “those people” are dumber than you. Lots of self-deprecation, lots of excellent stories of hard-won battles overcome, lessons learned, that sort of thing. The title is a theme that runs through the book, even when it’s a stretch to see how not giving a f*ck is really the point of an otherwise excellent story.
Overall, it was so easy and enjoyable to read, even thought I fought that for the first 50 pages and gave in, feeling like I was learning way more than I was laughing at, or with. And I laughed a lot.
I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I found that it made me rethink things in my life, my personality, and relationships. I don't agree with all his points, but that's to do with my personal beliefs.
BOTTOM-LINE:
Not worth reading but at least I got a reading badge for it
.
PLOT OR PREMISE:
This is a self-help guide to reducing your stress levels by choosing to care only about those things that are important to you.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
I found this a very odd book to read. In almost every chapter, I found myself disagreeing with his evidence and examples, often thinking they proved the opposite of what he was trying to use them to prove, yet at the same time agreeing with some of the premises. It felt more like he had some solid ideas throughout, just not very well developed. Like, for instance, that we have limited bandwidth to care about things and therefore we should not care about a lot of unimportant stuff (hence the title), finding problems you like to solve (i.e. what you love), prioritizing better values for ourselves in line with what we love, and certainty being an enemy of growth (so you should risk failure more).
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Most of his examples are Millenial-style rants, not actual evidence to support his arguments, and it is a lot of work to come to the conclusion "don't sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff", but with swearing.
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
I enjoyed this book. It was witty and made me chuckle a lot. Certainly not for people who might be easily offended with profanity or those that might be more on the pessimistic side. Definitely need an open mind for this one, but I thought it was great and truly made sense on why I am happier and just don't get crazy over crappy life situations like most people do. Life is short and I prefer to not waste it on so much negative energy, hence I why I don't give a F*ck! 😁