Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
by Derren Brown
Publisher: Bantam Press (22 Sept. 2016)
ISBN 978-0593076200
Most of you will know Derren Brown as the TV hypnotist and magician. What you probably don’t know about him is that he is an accomplished scholar, with degrees in Law and German, as well as holder of the Neuro-Linguistic Programming masters designation. It is with this hat on that he has written Happy – a study of … well, how to be happy.
Many of the points Brown makes go against much of the “positivism movement”, but are all well argued. The book is divided into three parts with the middle section focusing totally on the history of philosophy in relation to emotion and the study of happiness.
While a little meandering, the book is worth a read just to discover his five rules for happiness –though you probably won’t agree with them. At the very least, you will finish the book understanding that Mr Brown is a very clever man indeed.