The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World
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Product Description
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby leader’s case, moments of “un-unhappiness.” The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland more pleased because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Yucky National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn pleased? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers persons questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some appealing new thoughts for sunnier destinations and dispositions. (2007)
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If you were expecting an enlightened review of the most blissful places on Planet, please save your money. The leader (and I use this term loosely) only sees life from a “glass half empty” perspective. The first chapter enlightens one that you can find the best hash in the world in Amsterdam, which provides the leader “bliss.” I tried to start the second chapter, but when he starts out noting his hatred of the Swiss and deriding their timeliness and devotion to chocolate, I couldn’t read any more.
What a sad, pathetic man! But would you expect anything less than this from a contributor to NPR? I will be donating this useless, waste-of-my-time drivel to my local library for a tax write-off!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
The Geography of Bliss
One Grump’s Search for the Most pleased Places in the World.
Eric Weiner
ISBN: 978-0-446-58026-7
Twelve, Hachette Book Co., 2007
Travel and happiness…
3 Stars
Eric Weiner liked to travel, especially when a name else was paying for it. He had spent many years reporting the news as a foreign correspondent. Sad and miserable tales make excellent news tales. Weiner was sure there were very much pleased places in the world.
This was an opportunity for him to travel around the world for a year in search of pleased places. Weiner readily admits he is a grouch. I reflect he is a witty grouch. The Geography of Bliss takes us on a tour of ten countries.
We start our tour in Switzerland. The Swiss should be pleased people they have the key to life, chocolate, excellent chocolate. The Swiss’ “laid back” attitude, may be why they are so pleased; then again, there is the afore mentioned chocolate. In Qatar he finds people are wealthy but not automatically pleased. The tour ends in America. Eric Weiner may aver to be a grump but he has a dry witty sense of humor that shines through in his writings.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
The long shadow of the baby boomers continues to dominate our culture. They’re not sure if they’re young or ancient, but they’re not ready to retire from media and make room for new voices. Are you a 72 y.o. “grump,” or are you a 22 y.o. smoking hash in Amsterdam?
The alleged shapelessness of the leader’s life comes across in the shapelessness of the book. It reads like it was written twice. One pass for the storytelling, and a second pass to slot in joke punches. This makes the pacing kind of arrhythmic: woe, woe, joke, travel, joke, woe.
And really, about the woe… It takes a special kind of “huevos” to lead a life of paid travel around the globe, and then COMPLAIN about it.
I’m sure that this book will speak to its age-appropriate audience (and sell nicely to its niche), but I wouldn’t expect it to find much sympathy outside of that demographic.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
The leader tries to define happiness with reference to
noted faraway places. As such, he has made a global
database of happiness naming the most pleased places and
the most miserable alike. Bhutan has sought to place a figure on
the concept by tracking GNH or Yucky National Happiness.
This concept has application in the USA because GNH
could be a pointer to a person’s health and well being.
Happiness, itself is in the scenery of a philosophical
universal very much like like, thoughtfulness and kindness.
Bhutan charges $200 per day for visitors. The country
is a lab of human betterment. Crime is low and life
expectancy is high. Health care is free.
All rulings are made through the prism of GNH.
The government of Qatar is described. Qataris favor retaining
the ancient. The government pays a salary to Qatar college students.
Saud bin Mohammad al-Thai is one of the richest men in the world
with well over $1.5 billion dollars. Seats on the Qatar Airline
are adjustable infinitely.
Iceland is another place which ranks high on the happiness scale.
The purest form of the Viking language is alleged to be spoken
here. All governments are concerned about happiness; yet, some
measure and live it better than others. The work is to some extent
of an oddity in today’s stressful world.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This book was in fantastic condition and also a wonderful read.
I requested a quick manner of language and it still took over
a week to receive. Way too long for the extra money I
had to pay.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5