Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is not a great book and it certainly has its flaws. However, it is a fairly well written book by Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, and provides a passionate argument for his latest thinking on well being. He has changed his views over the last decade and he explains how and why in this book. The topic is important and if Seligman is right, he has made a major contribution to human flourishing with his work. I read Barbara Ehrenrich's Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America a while back and I admit that it caused me to doubt to some degree Seligman's credibility. Shame on me and this book showed me how wrong I was to let her influence me in that regard. If you are looking for a step-by-step recipe for flourishing, a traditional type of self-help book, you will not find it here. This book is much more theoretical and it spends a lot of time on the evidence and research for Seligman's views on well being. Having said that, you certainly can glean what it takes to flourish from reading it. I just want to make clear this book is mostly about theory and evidence and not about practical steps individuals can take on their own. My biggest complaint about the book is that it spends too much time detailing specific projects the author is currently working on or has worked on in the past. He spends two full chapters on his work with the army. He does that to support his argument and to some degree I think to establish his credibility. While it is somewhat interesting, it's just too much. If you are interested in a theory of human flourishing then I think this book would be a valuable addition to your library. I definitely recommend it.