The Happy Life

In "The Happy Life" David Malouf addresses one of the most fundamental questions of all: what makes for a happy life? In an age where our bookshelves are full of self-help volumes and tales of perfect romantic love, his discussion is particularly relevant. He asks why, when so many of the essential 'unhappinesses' - premature death, famine, plague, material poverty - have largely disappeared in the developed world, does happiness continue to elude us? With elegance and insight, David Malouf finds new and old ways to talk about contentment and the self. He returns to the wisdom of the classics, and discusses how, thanks to Thomas Jefferson, happiness became a 'right'; in a dialogue on Rubens and Rembrandt he explores the sensual happiness of the flesh; he covers the difficulties of the modern world's obsession with consumption; and, finally the consolation and sympathy provided by art and literature. In luminous prose, with ideas to savour and reflect upon, Malouf distills millennia of thought and philosophy in "The Happy Life" into a fascinating and tangible argument.

ISBN 0701187115   Pages 112 ISBN13 9780701187118 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 158 Publisher Vintage   Published in London Imprint Chatto & Windus   Height (mm) 183 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 116 Publication date 29 Dec 2011   Spine width (mm) 14 DEWEY 158   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC23

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