When British journalist Ruth Whippman moves to California, it seems to her that the American obsession with finding happiness is driving people crazy.
America the Anxious
In America the Anxious, Ruth Whippman embarks on an uproarious pilgrimage to explore the American happiness machine, tackling both the ridiculous and the sublime.
More | PraiseNew York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
New York Post Best Book of 2016
One of Newsweek’s Nine Books to Change the Way You Think in 2016
Bustle’s Best Nonfiction books of October 2016
Sunday Times Best Summer Read
Greater Good Science Center Favorite Book of 2016
A Daily Mail ‘Must Read’
When British journalist Ruth Whippman moved to the United States, she found herself increasingly perplexed by the American obsession with one topic above all others: happiness. The subject came up everywhere: at the playground swings, at the meat counter in the supermarket and even- legs in stirrups- at the gynecologist.
The omnipresence of these happiness conversations (trading tips, humble-bragging successes, offering unsolicited advice) wouldn’t let her go, and so Ruth did some digging. What she found was a paradox. Despite the fact that Americans spend more time and money in search of happiness than anyone else on earth, research shows that the United States is one of the least contented, most anxious countries in the developed world. Stoked by a multi-billion dollar “happiness industrial complex” intent on selling the promise of bliss, American appeared to be driving itself crazy in pursuit of contentment.
Ruth set out to get to the bottom of this contradiction, embarking on an uproarious pilgrimage to investigate how this national obsession infiltrates all areas of life, from religion to parenting, the workplace to social media. She nearly falls apart psychologically while attending a controversial self-help course that promises total transformation, where she is told that all her problems are all her own fault. She visits a strange “happiness city” in the Nevada desert and explores why it has one of the highest suicide rates in America; delves into the darker truths behind the influential “positive psychology” movement and ventures to Utah to spend time with the Mormons, officially America’s happiest people.
Hilarious and insightful, Ruth’s discoveries are startling and unexpected from start to finish.
“Ruth Whippman is my new favorite cultural critic,and her book was such a joy to read that I temporarily forgot about all my neuroses. It’s a shrewd, hilarious analysis of why a country so obsessed with happiness is so darn unhappy”– Adam Grant, #1 NYT bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg.
“Ruth Whippman captures the absurdity of our late capitalist moment with sharp, insightful prose and a wicked sense of humor that makes every single page a pure joy to read. “America the Anxious” not only entertains without fail, but it also offers a wealth of devastating insights into how our culture demands happiness of us in ways that only seem to make us miserable. I mostly hate “Let Me Show You America!” nonfiction tomes, but this book is so charming and hilarious, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed cultural observations this much since David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.” Reading this book is like touring America with a scary-smart friend who can’t stop elbowing you in the ribs and saying, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” If you want to understand why our culture incites pure dread and alienation in so many of us (often without always recognizing it), read this book.– Heather Havrilesky, New York magazine’s “Ask Polly” columnist and author of “How to be a Person in the World.”
“A whip-sharp British Bill Bryson…..In this funny yet unsettling book….Whippman has Bryson’s sharp ear for language and its potential for absurdity….This is not merely a personal voyage of enlightenment, however, nor an extended eye-roll at wacky Americans. The book’s serious underpinning is a warning about how happiness is being weaponised by governments and employers, directed towards their people to make them work harder and longer… With warm wit and chilling logic, The Pursuit of Happiness shows that the human desire for contentment can be manipulated and distorted until it is barely recognisable.”- The Sunday Times, UK
“Ruth Whippman is whip-smart. Her writing is nothing short of genius.” Ira Israel, The Huffington Post
“A hilarious narrative full of barbed observations, personal anecdotes and comical stories…. a delightfully witty, enjoyable read”- Kirkus starred review
“funny and provocative”- The San Francisco Examiner
“Speckled with humorous insight”- The San Francisco Chronicle
Modern anxiety cuts across national borders and social classes, but in America right now…is a blend of soaring media driven dreams and dwindling possibilities of making a living while pursuing them. And nobody is more eloquent or wickedly funny about this reality than Ruth Whippman, author of America the Anxious.” Jason Gots, Big Think’s Think Again podcast.
“a travelogue narrated by a curious, funny and highly motivated guide…put together, the snapshots add up to an uncomfortable picture of American life….she successfully dismantles some of the major happiness studies, and she convinces us that the emphasis on personal happiness takes the pressure off, say, the social welfare system to actually help people to better their lives.”- The New York Times Book Review
“A lively memoir…Whippman- whose narrative voice is an unlikely mix of Kathy Lette and Louis Theroux- takes us on a trip through the labyrinthine lowlands (of happiness.) What follows is part investigation, part journey of self discovery”- Times Literary Supplement.
“I inhaled every page…a thoughtful, insightful and often delightful read.”- Psychcentral
“Ruth Whippman has written a thoughtful, beautifully written, important book…delightfully readable, amusing and enlightening. I can’t recommend it too highly.”- Psychology Today
“I LOVED this book. I found it SO WELL WRITTEN, so witty and funny and reading it I was often envious of Ruth Whippman’s facility with language. It was a hugely engaging read, accessible and so relevant… I’ve been quite evangelical about it.”- Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Sushi for Beginners
Wry and often hilarious………. A great – and important – read- –Brigid Schulte, author of New York Times bestseller Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time
“Ruth Whippman cuts to the heart of America’s obsession with happiness – and the strange and wonderful things we do to obtain it. America the Anxious is a funny, timely book that everyone should read.”- Jessica Valenti- author of Full Frontal Feminism and Sex Object.
“One of the best books I’ve come across in a long time……insightful, brilliant, funny (actually laugh-out-loud hilarious at times), timely, and thought-provoking.” – Dr Hal Urban, author of 20 Things that Matter and The Ten Commandments of Common sense.
“Ruth Whippman has written a laugh-out-loud examination of how, exactly, the American pursuit of happiness has led us so far astray….. AMERICA THE ANXIOUS is a vibrant, hilarious, necessary book” – Tara Conklin, author of New York Times bestseller,The House Girl
“A delightfully funny read about America and its pursuit of happiness – Will it make you happier? Probably, but one thing for sure: it will definitely make you laugh.” – Emma Seppala Phd, Author of the Happiness Track and Science Director, Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University.
If you’re on a quest for happiness, you want to start with buying this book. Wit, wisdom, and the kind of analysis only a Brit could bring to the topics of anxiety and contentment. ….And the book itself will make you happy: I laughed my way through it. Highly recommended.- Linda Tirado- Author of Hand to Mouth, Living in Bootstrap America.
“Ruth Whippman manages the trick of being very funny about what is, deep down, a serious problem: the American quest for happiness isn’t working.”- Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist and author of The Antidote, Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking
“So well-written and witty, you won’t notice that Whippman is delivering a devastating verdict on positive psychology as pseudoscience.” –Dr James Coyne, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
The Pursuit of Happiness
Fantastically fresh, funny and honest, this is an eye-opening look at what happiness really means.
More | PraiseNew York Times Editors’ Choice
New York Post Best Book of 2016
One of Newsweek’s Nine Books to Change the Way You Think in 2016
Bustle’s Best Nonfiction book of October 2016
Sunday Times’s Best Summer Reads
Greater Good Science Center Favorite Book of 2016
A Daily Mail “Must Read”
When British journalist Ruth Whippman moved to the United States, she found herself increasingly perplexed by the American obsession with one topic above all others: happiness. The subject came up everywhere: at the playground swings, at the meat counter in the supermarket and even- legs in stirrups- at the gynecologist.
The omnipresence of these happiness conversations (trading tips, humble-bragging successes, offering unsolicited advice) wouldn’t let her go, and so Ruth did some digging. What she found was a paradox. Despite the fact that Americans spend more time and money in search of happiness than anyone else on earth, research shows that the United States is one of the least contented, most anxious countries in the developed world. Stoked by a multi-billion dollar “happiness industrial complex” intent on selling the promise of bliss, American appeared to be driving itself crazy in pursuit of contentment.
Ruth set out to get to the bottom of this contradiction, embarking on an uproarious pilgrimage to investigate how this national obsession infiltrates all areas of life, from religion to parenting, the workplace to social media. She nearly falls apart psychologically while attending a controversial self-help course that promises total transformation, where she is told that all her problems are all her own fault. She visits a strange “happiness city” in the Nevada desert and explores why it has one of the highest suicide rates in America; delves into the darker truths behind the influential “positive psychology” movement and ventures to Utah to spend time with the Mormons, officially America’s happiest people.
Hilarious and insightful, Ruth’s discoveries are startling and unexpected from start to finish.
“Ruth Whippman is my new favorite cultural critic,and her book was such a joy to read that I temporarily forgot about all my neuroses. It’s a shrewd, hilarious analysis of why a country so obsessed with happiness is so darn unhappy”- Adam Grant, #1 NYT bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg.
“Ruth Whippman captures the absurdity of our late capitalist moment with sharp, insightful prose and a wicked sense of humor that makes every single page a pure joy to read. “America the Anxious” not only entertains without fail, but it also offers a wealth of devastating insights into how our culture demands happiness of us in ways that only seem to make us miserable. I mostly hate “Let Me Show You America!” nonfiction tomes, but this book is so charming and hilarious, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed cultural observations this much since David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.” Reading this book is like touring America with a scary-smart friend who can’t stop elbowing you in the ribs and saying, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” If you want to understand why our culture incites pure dread and alienation in so many of us (often without always recognizing it), read this book.- Heather Havrilesky, New York magazine’s “Ask Polly” columnist and author of “How to be a Person in the World.”
“A whip-sharp British Bill Bryson…..In this funny yet unsettling book….Whippman has Bryson’s sharp ear for language and its potential for absurdity….This is not merely a personal voyage of enlightenment, however, nor an extended eye-roll at wacky Americans. The book’s serious underpinning is a warning about how happiness is being weaponised by governments and employers, directed towards their people to make them work harder and longer… With warm wit and chilling logic, The Pursuit of Happiness shows that the human desire for contentment can be manipulated and distorted until it is barely recognisable.”- The Sunday Times, UK
“Ruth Whippman is whip-smart. Her writing is nothing short of genius.” Ira Israel, The Huffington Post
“What could have been a tedious anti-American tirade is actually a hilarious narrative full of barbed observations, personal anecdotes and comical stories…. a delightfully witty, enjoyable read”- Kirkus starred review
“funny and provocative”- The San Francisco Examiner
“Speckled with humorous insight”- The San Francisco Chronicle
“a travelogue narrated by a curious, funny and highly motivated guide…put together, the snapshots add up to an uncomfortable picture of American life….she successfully dismantles some of the major happiness studies, and she convinces us that the emphasis on personal happiness takes the pressure off, say, the social welfare system to actually help people to better their lives.”- The New York Times Book Review
“vivid and often hilarious”- Bustle
“A lively memoir…Whippman- whose narrative voice is an unlikely mix of Kathy Lette and Louis Theroux- takes us on a trip through the labyrinthine lowlands (of happiness.) What follows is part investigation, part journey of self discovery”- Times Literary Supplement.
“I inhaled every page…a thoughtful, insightful and often delightful read.”- Psychcentral
“Ruth Whippman has written a thoughtful, beautifully written, important book…delightfully readable, amusing and enlightening. I can’t recommend it too highly.”- Psychology Today
“I LOVED this book. I found it SO WELL WRITTEN, so witty and funny and reading it I was often envious of Ruth Whippman’s facility with language. It was a hugely engaging read, accessible and so relevant… I’ve been quite evangelical about it.”- Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Sushi for Beginners
Wry and often hilarious………. A great – and important – read- –Brigid Schulte, author of New York Times bestseller Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time
“Ruth Whippman cuts to the heart of America’s obsession with happiness – and the strange and wonderful things we do to obtain it. America the Anxious is a funny, timely book that everyone should read.”- Jessica Valenti- author of Full Frontal Feminism and Sex Object.
“One of the best books I’ve come across in a long time……insightful, brilliant, funny (actually laugh-out-loud hilarious at times), timely, and thought-provoking.” – Dr Hal Urban, author of 20 Things that Matter and The Ten Commandments of Common sense.
“Ruth Whippman has written a laugh-out-loud examination of how, exactly, the American pursuit of happiness has led us so far astray….. AMERICA THE ANXIOUS is a vibrant, hilarious, necessary book” – Tara Conklin, author of New York Times bestseller,The House Girl
“A delightfully funny read about America and its pursuit of happiness – Will it make you happier? Probably, but one thing for sure: it will definitely make you laugh.” – Emma Seppala Phd, Author of the Happiness Track and Science Director, Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University.
If you’re on a quest for happiness, you want to start with buying this book. Wit, wisdom, and the kind of analysis only a Brit could bring to the topics of anxiety and contentment. ….And the book itself will make you happy: I laughed my way through it. Highly recommended.- Linda Tirado- Author of Hand to Mouth, Living in Bootstrap America.
“Ruth Whippman manages the trick of being very funny about what is, deep down, a serious problem: the American quest for happiness isn’t working.”- Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist and author of The Antidote, Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking
A wonderfully ambitious and trenchant critique.“Betsy Lerner, Author of The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir
For anyone who has fallen prey to a book promising the secret of a happy life, and then failed to feel any happier, THIS book, by Whippman, might just provide the answers you didn’t even know you were seeking- Malena Watrous- Author of If you Follow Me and Creative Writing Instructor, Stanford University.
“So well-written and witty, you won’t notice that Whippman is delivering a devastating verdict on positive psychology as pseudoscience.” –Dr James Coyne, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania