The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Mark Manson, 2016
★ 3.85 from 1.5m ratings on Goodreads
A potty-mouthed argument that the cure for anxiety isn't caring more but choosing better what to care about — and paying the price of that choice. The tone is blunt and joke-heavy, with a restless, argumentative energy that keeps circling back to discomfort and choice.
Feels like unease, humor and wonder. About society and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you want blunt, funny prodding toward deciding what deserves your attention. Be aware that the profanity and swagger wear on some readers, and others have called out the advice's blind spots around privilege and sexism.
Why read it
It offers a plain, funny way to sort real problems from noise, and to accept that choosing one path means giving up others.
A page from the book
The things you're dodging are already charging you rent.
Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame. What readers say
Readers are split: many find it funny and useful for focusing on what matters, while others are irritated by the smug, profane tone and see the advice as repackaged common sense or philosophy, with some calling out privilege and sexism.
Mark Manson.The book grew out of a blog post on Manson's own site, where he had spent years writing about dating and online business before turning to life advice.
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck for me?
- You may like it if you want blunt, funny prodding toward deciding what deserves your attention. Be aware that the profanity and swagger wear on some readers, and others have called out the advice's blind spots around privilege and sexism.
- What is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck like?
- The tone is blunt and joke-heavy, with a restless, argumentative energy that keeps circling back to discomfort and choice. Feels like unease, humor and wonder. About society and identity.
- What should I read after The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck?
- If you liked The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, try I Am America (And So Can You!) (Stephen Colbert), Tis (Frank McCourt) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris).
A taste of the feed
The cheerful logic of a country deciding its past never happened.
So let’s take that beautiful idea to its logical conclusion and not only leave the past behind but deny the past ever happened. Like this: America is not a land of immigrants. There. Was that so hard to say? It makes sense if you think about it. It feels like we’ve been here forever, doesn’t it? Let’s just assume we have been.
I Am America (And So Can You!) · Stephen Colbert
The painful weight of a love that comes too late to change things.
I know it wasn’t the dinner wine that had me against the wall in a fit of remorse. It was the thought of my mother being so lonesome she had to sit on a street bench, so lonesome she missed the company of a homeless shopping bag woman. Even in the bad days in Limerick she always had an open hand and an open door and why couldn’t I be like that to her?
Tis · Frank McCourt
What New York couples stay together for, when the children aren't the reason.
In other parts of the country people tried to stay together for the sake of the children. In New York they tried to work things out for the sake of the apartment.
Me Talk Pretty One Day · David Sedaris
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