Furiously Happy
A Funny Book About Horrible Things
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4.4 • 508 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.
But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.
As Jenny says:
"Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos.
"Most of my favorite people are dangerously f****d-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"
Furiously Happy is about "taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between "surviving life" and "living life". It's the difference between "taking a shower" and "teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair." It's the difference between being "sane" and being "furiously happy."
Lawson is beloved around the world for her inimitable humor and honesty, and in Furiously Happy, she is at her snort-inducing funniest. This is a book about embracing everything that makes us who we are - the beautiful and the flawed - and then using it to find joy in fantastic and outrageous ways. Because as Jenny's mom says, "Maybe 'crazy' isn't so bad after all." Sometimes crazy is just right.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Blogger Jenny Lawson's buzzed-about second book offers a mix of poignant reflections on her battle with mental illness and gut-busting humor. Lawson writes candidly about her experience with depression and anxiety and the stigmas they bring. She also writes about her love of a taxidermy raccoon named Rory and why she wants to own a cat named The President. Devout fans of Lawson's writing and newcomers will find themselves giggling madly as they devour Furiously Happy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lawson aka "the Bloggess" delivers a captivating roller-coaster ride of a performance that elicits wickedly uproarious laughter and heartfelt emotional catharsis. In this collection of personal issues, Lawson mixes her lifelong struggle with mental and physical illnesses and her quirky brand of humor, connecting those two threads together with the notion that those who suffer the deepest lows should embrace a form of happiness that allows for the wild and uninhibited side of life. Lawson possesses a distinct vocal pitch and tangential style of delivery that matches the unapologetically scattershot nature of her narrative. Her renderings of the daily banter of her marriage to a supportive husband with a diametrically opposite temperament ring with authenticity. As a quirky animal lover who also loves taxidermy, Lawson doesn't miss a beat in giving voice to the rich characterizations she has created for the critters in her life, both living and dead. Her language is not for the faint of heart, but the appeal of Lawson's sheer humanity cannot be denied. A Flatiron hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Explains depression in many ways I've never thought of before, with humor. I suffer from major depression and appreciate what I learned and am able to take from this book.
This lady is a quack
But she helps us people with mental health issues to find the humor and good side of it. Some days are better than others
Over dramatized and not funny
I can feel her spaz on each page. I would describe this book as a lady spazzing while doing ordinary things. Spazzing at home. Spazzing at the doctors. Spazzing in crowds. List goes on.