Against Happiness

Author: Eric G Wilson

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $22.95 AUD
  • : 9780374531669
  • : Henry Holt & Company
  • : Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
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  • : 0.141
  • : 01 March 2009
  • : 188mm X 166mm X 12mm
  • : United States
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  • : books

Special Fields

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  • : Eric G Wilson
  • : Paperback
  • : 0903
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  • : English
  • : 152.4
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  • :
  • : 166
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Barcode 9780374531669
9780374531669

Description

We are addicted to happiness. More than any other generation, Americans today believe in the power of positive thinking. But who says we're supposed to be happy? In "Against Happiness," the scholar Eric G. Wilson argues that melancholia is necessary to any thriving culture, that it is the muse of great literature, painting, music, and innovation--and that it is the force underlying original insights. So enough Prozac-ing of our brains. Let's embrace our depressive side as the wellspring of creativity. It's time to throw off the shackles of positivity and relish the blues thatmake us human.

Author description

Eric G. Wilson is Thomas H. Pritchard Professor of English at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is the author of five books on the relationship between literature and psychology.