Oliver Burkeman is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. He also writes a column for The Guardian called *This Column Will Change Your Life* in which he explores psychology and wellbeing. When I first learned of the title of his book, I wasn’t yet familiar with Oliver’s work and I didn’t really know what it was about. But I knew it was for me, and I wasn’t disappointed.
In The Antidote, Oliver explores the true sources of human happiness as laid out in Buddhism, Stoicism, and modern psychology. He not only debunks the notion that relentless positivity makes the practitioner happier, but argues persuasively that the accompanying expectations make the happy-go-lucky visioneers much worse off. He offers a second path toward contentment that has to do with recognizing and accepting the scarier parts of life. (I am tempted here to write something like "Up with Realism! Up with Uncertainty! Up with embracing our mortality!" but as a realist myself, I don’t like over-using exclamation points.)
His insights are important, thoroughly researched, and presented with humor that is both copious and dryer than a dryer sheet in a very dry place.
Oliver is the recipient of the Foreign Press Association’s Young Journalist of the Year award and was on the shortlist for the Orwell Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Us, Esquire, and Slate. He holds a degree from Christ's College, Cambridge. He spoke to me from Brooklyn, NY where he is keeping his distance.
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