A Little Happier

A Little Happier

Notes for reassurance

Summary

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Happiness is impossible to define and illusory. How then are we to lead happier lives?

In A Little Happier Derren Brown condenses the lessons of his international bestseller Happy into 17 beautifully-wrought, wise and profoundly reassuring mini-chapters, each one challenging us to think differently so as to overcome anxiety in a difficult world.
· Nothing is real when each of us tells stories about our lives in too tidy narratives.
· We should be wary of goal setting: long-term goals fixate us on a future that may not happen and we may not wish for when we get there.
· Our partner isn't right for us because no-one is. None of us is born for someone else. But perhaps those areas of frequent conflict are useful indicators of where we might ourselves be insufferable.
Life is hard, messy and complex; our friends will probably let us down; most of what has got us here is blind luck and a series of false starts. But if we can learn to separate what we can control - our thoughts and actions - from all else beyond our control, we can find a surer footing with which to greet the world.

© Derren Brown 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Reviews

  • Derren Brown is a mine of wisdom, humanity and kindness - everything we need to sustain and nourish ourselves.
    Alain de Botton

About the author

Derren Brown

Derren began his UK television career in December 2000 with a series of specials called Mind Control. Since redefining the genre of magic for intelligent, modern audiences, he has become synonymous with the art of psychological manipulation. His TV shows have become must-see events. Amongst a varied and notorious career, Derren has played Russian Roulette on live television, convinced middle-managers to commit an armed robbery in the street, led the nation in a séance, stuck viewers to their sofas, successfully predicted the National Lottery, motivated a shy man to land a packed passenger plane at 30,000 feet, exposed psychic and faith-healing charlatans, and hypnotised a man to assassinate Stephen Fry. On top of this he tours the UK every year with a sell-out stage show and has recently finished a run on Broadway, NYC.

He has published five books: Tricks of the Mind, Confessions of a Conjuror, Happy, A Little Happier and a book of his caricatures, Portraits.
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