America the Anxious
Why Our Search for Happiness Is Driving Us Crazy and How to Find It for Real
ISBN10: 1250146054
ISBN13: 9781250146052
Trade Paperback
256 Pages
$20.99
After she packed up her British worldview (that most things were basically rubbish) and moved to America, journalist and documentary filmmaker Ruth Whippman found herself increasingly perplexed by the American obsession with one topic above all others: happiness. The subject came up everywhere: at the playground swings, at the meat counter in the supermarket, and even—legs in stirrups—at the gynecologist.
The omnipresence of these happiness conversations (trading tips, humble-bragging successes, offering unsolicited advice) wouldn’t let her go, and so Ruth did some digging. What she found was a paradox: despite the fact that Americans spend more time and money in search of happiness than any other nation on earth, research shows that the United States is one of the least contented, most anxious countries in the developed world. Stoked by a multi-billion dollar “happiness industrial complex” intent on selling the promise of bliss, America appeared to be driving itself crazy in pursuit of contentment.
So Ruth set out on to get to the bottom of this contradiction, embarking on an uproarious pilgrimage to investigate how this national obsession infiltrates all areas of life, from religion to parenting, the workplace to academia. She attends a controversial self-help course that promises total transformation, where she learns all her problems are all her own fault; visits a “happiness city” in the Nevada desert and explores why it has one of the highest suicide rates in America; delves into the darker truths behind the influential academic “positive psychology movement”; and ventures to Utah to spend time with the Mormons, officially America’s happiest people.
What she finds, ultimately, and presents in America the Anxious, is a rigorously researched yet universal answer, and one that comes absolutely free of charge.
Reviews
Praise for America the Anxious
“A travelogue narrated by a curious, funny and highly motivated guide . . . [and] put together, the snapshots add up to an uncomfortable picture of American life. Whippman successfully dismantles some of the major happiness studies and convinces us that the emphasis on personal happiness takes the pressure off, say, the social welfare system to actually help people to improve their lives.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Why does a nation so infatuated with happiness seem so discontent? After combing through the scientific literature, [Whippman] proposes an answer . . . Her cheeky, outsider observations and self-deprecating humor make for an engaging read.”—Scientific American Mind
“Ruth Whippman has written a thoughtful, beautifully written, important book . . . delightfully readable, amusing and enlightening, I can't recommend it too highly.”—Dr. Benjamin Radcliff, Psychology Today
Reviews from Goodreads
MEDIA
Watch
AMERICA THE ANXIOUS: Happiness in the Workplace
Ruth Whippman talks about ways Americans can infuse happiness into the workplace, and how companies like Zappos have already done so.
Share This