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Smile Or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World Kindle Edition
by Barbara Ehrenreich (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 103 ratings
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Print length
260 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Granta Books
Publication date
August 5, 2010
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Editorial Reviews
Review
This brilliant new book from the author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch explores the tyranny of positive thinking, and offers a history of how it came to be the dominant mode in the USA. Ehrenreich conceived of the book when she became ill with breast cancer, and found herself surrounded by pink ribbons and bunny rabbits and platitudes. She balked at the way her anger and sadness about having the disease were seen as unhealthy and dangerous by health professionals and other sufferers. In her droll and incisive analysis of the cult of cheerfulness, Ehrenreich also ranges across contemporary religion, business and the economy, arguing, for example, that undue optimism and a fear of giving bad news sowed the seeds for the current banking crisis. She argues passionately that the insistence on being cheerful actually leads to a lonely focus inwards, a blaming of oneself for any misfortunes, and thus to political apathy. Rigorous, insightful and bracing as always, and also incredibly funny, "Happy Face" uncovers the dark side of the 'have a nice day' nation.
Product details
ASIN : B003DX0HWC
Publisher : Granta Books (August 5, 2010)
Publication date : August 5, 2010
Language : English
File size : 699 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 260 pages
Lending : Not Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,045 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#1,090 in Journalism Writing Reference (Kindle Store)
#2,925 in Popular Culture
#4,082 in Journalism Writing Reference (Books)
Customer Reviews:
4.4 out of 5 stars 103 ratings
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Biography
BARBARA EHRENREICH is the author of fourteen books, including the bestselling Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch. She lives in Virginia, USA.
JeanneAH
4.0 out of 5 stars Barbara Ehrenreich Book ReviewReviewed in the United States on May 16, 2012
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I have been an admirer of Barbara E. for a long time. She's a good writer and makes interesting things even more interesting. The book mainly deals with how the corporate, business, medical and religious worlds demand a "positive" attitude.. or else! Entertaining read. The only thing I was disappointed with was that this book had previously been released under another title .. "Bright Sided" and so I bought a book I had already read. I did like the book a lot, so I read it again. I do think it is a little sneaky for publishers...and Amazon.. to pull this trick.. and if they do they ought to advise the buyer about it.
39 people found this helpful
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Just reading
5.0 out of 5 stars A fine perspective on a cognitive sinkholeReviewed in the United States on January 9, 2013
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Clearly a cut above. Ehrenreich continually entertains and educates her readers in this description of the dangers of magical thinking and unfounded optimism. The author, whose tone could best be described as constructively pessimistic, gives ample background and lets the proponents of positive thinking speak their piece (thereby giving them just enough rope...). Do not miss it.
7 people found this helpful
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Sam Giancana
3.0 out of 5 stars Frown and prosperReviewed in the United States on January 24, 2014
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Entertaining, well written and a sympathetic thesis. This is a great book for those wondering why they can't just grit their teeth and fake happiness. I am interested in this authors other works now.
9 people found this helpful
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poohbear
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed it.Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018
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As advertised.
I really enjoyed it...in a depressing way.
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Ironmonger
5.0 out of 5 stars a necessary readReviewed in the United States on November 20, 2019
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A must read for everyone convinced that this positivity movement isn't what its cracked up to be....
eyeopening and relevant
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good!Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2019
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good!
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humorous
5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest BookReviewed in the United States on August 21, 2012
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I was ( and still am ) lucky to have encountered the title of this book through the Internet, and luckiest to have bought this book and have read it from cover to cover, even though I am a naivete and did not have much knowledge about the author. With her renowned talent and with the honest feeling she had from the beginning when she started thinking about writing a book about being "positive", nothing could go wrong. I was touched, toward the end of this best-seller, when I read, to quote, "This is the project of science: to pool the rigorous observations of many people into a tentative accounting of the world, which will of course always be subject to revisions arising from fresh obserbations." Our life, including( sad to say ) what she wrote, is ephemeral, and she knows it.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in the United States on March 7, 2016
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Very good
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Robin Richards
4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed reading 'Smile or Die' very much and I liked ...Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2018
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You could call it my guilty secret (ok one of my many guilty secrets) but I have something of a weakness for self-help books and what could be described as the 'Success' and positivity movement so I was interest to read the views of someone who challenges it. I enjoyed reading 'Smile or Die' very much and I liked the alternative views Barbara Ehrenreich presented especially her broad view of how management strategies use this overtly positive approach to attempt to offset the negatives of wholesale redundancies and also how an overtly positive, head in the sand, attitude impacted on the 2008 financial crisis. It was also helpful to read someone who challenges to 'Law of Attraction' - I must admit I've struggled with that one, and also her critique of the book 'Who Moved My Cheese' which I'd read, didn't find stimulating or insightful and was wondering if I'd missed something. Overall a useful book, I still err towards a having (and indeed encouraging others to have) a positive perspective but Barbara presents a sound counter argument which deserves consideration.
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Dirk vom Lehn
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent critical discussion of positive thinkingReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2016
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Ehrenreich systematically discusses the 'happiness movement' and its development from the Protestant Ethic. She shows how this movement underpins on the one hand the self-help movement on the other hand arguments by the rich and by corporation for people who are poor and/or unemployed to pull themselves up by thinking positively. This argument to change people's living and working conditions by turning inward rather than by changing the circumstances in which we all live is at the heart of Ehrenreich's critique. Highly recommended book.
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Mike Partner
5.0 out of 5 stars As it happens I was just about to write an article about the way that positive psychology turns the concept of happiness into aReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2015
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This is a book about a very serious subject that is written in an elegant and attractive style. As it happens I was just about to write an article about the way that positive psychology turns the concept of happiness into a right, duty and consumable commodity when I came across this book. It is very refreshing and introduces us to some of the characters in the happiness business in a witty, honest and engaging way, whilst making a strong argument for a change towards"vigilant realism" or even "defensive pessimism". This seems to me to address the whole capitalist preoccupation with consumption and how it has become a virus in our experience of ourselves. I urge you to read this book!
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Conall Boyle
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful bookReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 8, 2010
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Very interesting story of the origins of 'positive thinking' backed up with fine research sources. An eye-opener, and one of those books that gets you to see things from a new angle.
From the early beginnings with christain science countering victorian miserable-ism through to pseudo-science of think yourself happy and cure your cancer, the author weaves a thread. The happy worker reconciled to his/her lousy job provides a horrifying glimpse into the corporate world.
The last bit on happiness theory from economists etc. I would judge less good. Ok so some of the well-known academics in the field are not above cashing in on their knowledge, and pandering to the happiness gurus. But the search for the good life goes on, regardless. Maybe if they seek ways to be happIER they might have a better handle on this.
Overall, I'd say a very good read, very insightful.
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Geoff60
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting slant on positive thinking modelsReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2019
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I came across this book from a reference in another book. Although it took a bit of time to get 'stuck-in' so to speak it was quite a revealing insight to the the US model of positive thinking throughout the last few decades. Definitely worth a read.
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