This is a fabulous book by the two authors: philosopher, Julian Baggini and psychotherapist, Antonia Macaro.
The book, titled Life: A User’s Manual, covers multiple topics and themes beginning with Anger and ending, near 400 pages later, with Zest.
Between there are topics on luck, mental health, free will, fear, bereavement, relationships, and lighter ones like food and drink, each discussed from both a philosophical and psychological angle, and though some entries are shorter than others, I’d say, on average, each topic/theme covers approximately 800-1000 words, with references at the end for further reading and links to related topics. And if you are looking for, say, Leisure, and you can’t find it, it’ll be lodged under Work-Life Balance, which is more or less the same thing and not difficult to work out, thus making the book easy to navigate.
In addition, there is a nicely written Introduction, quotes placed at the start of each of the sections, such as: ‘If one has a proper education, one never runs out of things to do’ (Aubrey de Grey) or ‘Money never made anyone rich: all it does is infect anyone who touches it with a lust for more of itself’ (Seneca), and a section at the end of the book titled ‘Philosophy, where to start’, which I must confess I didn’t find that useful as the books listed tend to be more academic rather than geared for the general reader like myself.
Entries throughout are discussed with what has become expected of Baggini: uncomplicated, elegantly written prose backed with a great deal of knowledge on philosophy and philosophers (amongst others) and distilled in such a manner that I’m quite certain other writers can only envy. Of course you may not agree with all that Baggini and co-author Macaro write, and you can disagree with them as you wish. But whichever position you take I’m quite sure this book will inform and educate on many topics and certainly get you thinking. Highly recommended.
I hope you find my review helpful.
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