Editorial Reviews
The Lumberjack, March 15, 1997
Some strive for total enlightenment. For others the goal is wealth. Still others reach for wellness, weight loss, financial assistance and psychological grounding through countless self-help books that offer the promise of one's dreams in only a matter of pages. But Gil Friedman has a different mission. He has written a definitive and aptly titled guide for everyone who wishes to be miserable. It's easy, if you try. Touted as a practical guidebook to making and keeping yourself completely unhappy. Friedman' book lives up to its claim. Throughout the book he teaches valuable skills that will enable readers to transform their occasional thoughts of depression and self-doubt into integral parts of a constant misery. It's comedy. Friedman begins the book on page 49. This is intended to help readers overcome the first obstacle of every self-help book - reading past the first chapter. The table of contents reads as a checklist of everything your mother warned you to not do, avoid or change. Friedman spends a chapter on each of these topics. Thirty rules comprise his guidebook to total unhappiness, offering timeless advice about ho to attain true unhappiness ranging from "Always compare yourself to other," Rule 5, "Take everything in life seriously," Rule 15; and "Focus on what's wrong in your life," Rule 1. Each chapter expounds upon these rules, offers real life examples and, in true self-help book fashion, has exercises to practice that augment the book's advice. . . . Especially effective are the chapters that describe situations that many readers are facing, Rule 7, " Get and stay in debt - the more the better." Rule 22, "Procrastinate." Rule 26, "Stay as far away from nature and you can" and Rule 24, "Eat a high-fat diet - let thinks eat you." Friedman has advice for how single folKs may achieve total unhappiness. "You must focus on all that is wrong with your single state...then obsess about all the things that will become right once you have found a partner. For real wretchedness believe you are not lovable and deserve only to meet losers." This chapter's "couple" exercises include the following: "On small, separate pieces of paper, write down all the traits that are wrong with your "significant other." Place these notes in a cookie jar. Every morning put out a thought. Throughout the day refer to your selection for the day and remind yourself how truly irritating and frustrating this flaw is." The chapters are comical, and Friedman is an entertaining writer, but he reading needs to be broken into weeks rather than taking it all in one sitting. Even thought you know it is intended to be lightheaded, his advice works - I would begin to dwell on things that the book triggered me to think about and did get depressed, but the next paragraph would have me rolling with laughter. The book is effective and true to its title. Read only when emotionally stable and rad for a mental rollercoaster ride. It is intriguingly fun.
Arcata Eye, October 28, 1997
From the Acknowledgements up front to the blubs on the back cover, there are unexpected fits of laughter awaiting you in this clever little book. It is an extented parody on self-help books, human nature and our frenetic, outer directed society. . . . Like many self-help books, there are rules followed by exercises suggested for the reader; Friemdan drolly comments that these exercises "in the tradition of college textbooks, rarely have anything to do with the preceeding chapter. It is a time honored way to feel frustrated and inadequate." . . . This wise, clever and exceedingly funny book is a gem.
How to Be Totally Unhappy in a Peaceful World : Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Being Unhappy - A Complete Manuel with Rules, Exercises, a Midterm, and a Final Exam
How to Be Totally Unhappy in a Peaceful World : Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Being Unhappy - A Complete Manuel with Rules, Exercises, a Midterm, and a Final Exam,Gil Friedman,Sunstar Publishing (IA),1887472134,Form - Parodies,General,Humor
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