"I expected this to be mostly capitalist criticism (which I am super into), as it turns out it was that but mostly self-help. Still, it definitely deviates from most self-help books just by virtue of being anti-capitalist and presenting the somewhat radical idea presented in its title. Basically, it's anti-capitalist enough for your lefty comrades to enjoy but self-help enough that you could gift it to your liberal friends and family and they wouldn't be too scandalized.

Personally, even as someone who has criticized rugged individualism and the American obsession with productivity for many years, I still learned a lot and had many of my viewpoints challenged by this book. Who knew accepting laziness could be so much work? Some of my favorite sections included the history of how America's aversion to laziness was built (spoiler alert: it's a whole lot of white supremacy) and the conclusion, which focused on how compassion towards what we perceive as others' laziness will help us love ourselves more.

What I connected less to were the copious descriptions of burnout, even though there were definitely times in the past when I could relate. I think this is mostly because there have been at least a handful of books and thousands of think pieces written about burnout in the last few years, so those didn't really feel like anything revolutionary compared to other parts of the book. It's pretty hard to argue with the notion that burnout is bad both for the capitalist machine and for actual human beings, and reading descriptions of people experiencing burnout is never a good time (Price even acknowledges how much of a toll these interviews took on their own health), so I wish this took up less of the book.

The other thing that peeved me was the most of the advice for dealing with burnout and "the laziness lie" at work assumed that the person reading (a) has a white-collar job which is salaried and probably provides benefits, (b) that their supervisor is understanding and flexible, (c) that they have enough power and say in their job to enact changes to it, (d) that they won't lose their job by enacting those changes or saying "no" to their assigned tasks and (e) that dropping a few of their job responsibilities won't cause them to be unable to pay for basic living expenses. These all seem like pretty rare privileges at any time but especially during COVID times.

Still though, I would recommend this book, and think it would make a great gift to any friends who need a little compassion in their lives or for book clubs to discuss."

"My Most Honest Review Yet.....

Between my junior and senior year of college, in the summer of 2005, my father kicked me out of the house after staying with him for approximately two weeks. The only job that I had ever had, the one where I spent the last two years working faithfully, somehow managed to mess up my job transfer leaving me without employment. It was painfully obvious that I needed to end things with my fiancée, and I hated my college major, but I was on a scholarship which only lasted one additional year, and I could not switch majors without extending my time at college, time and money that I didn’t have.

There was nothing positive in my life, and there weren’t too many people that cared. When I walked over a bridge on the way to class, I would often think about jumping off. There was a wounded animal that lived inside me. The only thing that seemed to quiet this animal was alcohol. At one point, I had 13 bruises on my body from falling down so much from drinking. I was convinced that I was the saddest person alive, sadder even than anyone in the course of human history. One day, I drove to the cemetery where my childhood friend was located and took as many pills as I could. I drove over to my father with a gas tank on E, telling him that it was too late, and I’m sorry for what I did.

It wasn’t until I was in the hospital that depression was mentioned for the first time. Depression? What? But that was only for people who were emo, the ones that dressed all in black and had black lipstick and nails. That couldn’t possibly be me.

Growing up with my brother and my father, I was never allowed to feel “negative� emotions. No sadness, no loneliness, no disappointment. If I cried, my father told me in no uncertain terms that I was a crybaby and to stop that or go to my room. My father has never once cried in my presence. So I learned that if I felt lonely that there must be something wrong with me, fueling anxiety, creating a wound that would never heal.

One of the most transformative experiences for me was going to a therapy group, Coping with Depression. Everyone there was crazy, but I realized that I thought some of those exact same crazy thoughts. For example, no one cares about me or no one cares if I die. That just isn’t true, but where is that coming from? Well, I was lonely. But newsflash: Being lonely is actually healthy! Everyone is lonely from time to time. That emotion is completely normal. The feeling was correct, but the conclusion was incorrect. That was the common theme among all of the Coping with Depression participants.

Why am I telling you this? Well, the author is going to talk about personality types that repress their feelings, and that used to be me. Second, mental health has to be part of everyday vernacular. It needs to be talked about. There is no shame in talking about our struggles. Third, if this helps even one person, then being this vulnerable was worth it.

This author’s premise is that there are three personality types, Type A (people who are angry), Type B, Type C (the people who repress their feelings and get sick). The author says that he doesn’t like to “blame� the cancer patient or chronic illness sufferer, but that is exactly what he is doing. He asserts that people with breast cancer brought it on themselves.

Respectfully, this author is way off base. He was talking about genetically based diseases and then blaming the patients. Additionally, I knew from the very first chapter that the author was a white male. How do I know that? Well, if women go to the doctor, no matter what the complaint, the doctor will think that she is either crazy, pregnant, or both, in about 95% of cases. It was a running joke at uni that if a female came in with a stubbed toe, that the medical staff would automatically assume pregnancy.

Women are over diagnosed with either depression or functional neurological disorder when in fact they have very serious medical problems. For additional detail, I suggest reading The Pain Gap. Personally, I have been diagnosed with moderate depression when I actually had Celiac Disease and with a Functional Neurological Disorder when I actually needed heart surgery. When I went to the Emergency Department, they allowed me to wait in the waiting room until I was passed out unconscious before they decided to do an EKG. If you review the ratings of this hospital, most of the 1 star reviews are from women and the 5 star ratings are from men. Women and people of color are still treated as second-class citizens in healthcare.

Now if you are a Type C personality or if you are a man who was raised to never cry and repress your feelings, this book might be of some value to you.

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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"I struggled with this book...I really wanted to learn and grow from it. The problem for me, is I don't have many childhood memories. So, I can't really explore my emotions and feelings if I can't remember what happened...

Because I am already in therapy, I had already done some of the main exercises in the book...Maybe this is a better book for someone who wants to try doing some self healing on their own before trying therapy. Parts of the book were a little repetitive for me.

I am sure if I wasn't already in therapy and I didn't have huge blanks in my childhood, I may have experienced this book differently."