Ordinary Pleasures

Ordinary Pleasures PDF Author: Kay Young
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 9780814208847
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This text seeks to offer a new theory of narrative in its uncovering of how conversations and comic interchanges between lovers in stories create an intimacy and happiness of the everyday. Drawing on a diverse body of theory (from sociolinguistics to philosophy to literary criticism) and reading an unexpectedly eclectic group of texts (works by Shakespeare and Tolstoy appear beside Casablanca and I Love Lucy) Kay Young explores how narrative couples play together, struggle together, and return to one another to experience what it means to be in a relationship over time.

Ordinary Pleasures

Ordinary Pleasures PDF Author: Kay Young
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 9780814208847
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description
This text seeks to offer a new theory of narrative in its uncovering of how conversations and comic interchanges between lovers in stories create an intimacy and happiness of the everyday. Drawing on a diverse body of theory (from sociolinguistics to philosophy to literary criticism) and reading an unexpectedly eclectic group of texts (works by Shakespeare and Tolstoy appear beside Casablanca and I Love Lucy) Kay Young explores how narrative couples play together, struggle together, and return to one another to experience what it means to be in a relationship over time.

Seven Pleasures

Seven Pleasures PDF Author: Willard Spiegelman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 9781429958707
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
What does it mean to be happy? Americans have had an obsession with "the pursuit of happiness" ever since the Founding Fathers enshrined it—along with life and liberty—as our national birthright. Whether it means the accumulation of wealth or a more vaguely understood notion of self-fulfillment or self-actualization, happiness has been an inevitable, though elusive, goal. But it is hard to separate "real" happiness from the banal self-help version that embraces mindless positive thinking. And though we have two booming "happiness industries"—religion, with its promise of salvation, and psychopharmacology, with its promise of better living through chemistry—each comes with its own problems and complications. In Seven Pleasures, Willard Spiegelman takes a look at the possibilities for achieving ordinary secular happiness without recourse to either religion or drugs. In this erudite and frequently hilarious book of essays, he discusses seven activities that lead naturally and easily to a sense of well-being. One of these—dancing—requires a partner, and therefore provides a lesson in civility, or good citizenship, as one of its benefits. The other six—reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing—are things one performs alone. Seven Pleasures is a marvelously engaging guide to the pursuit of happiness, and all its accompanying delights.

Ordinary Pleasures

Ordinary Pleasures PDF Author: Alicia Beale
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description


The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary PDF Author: Catherine Gray
Publisher: Aster
ISBN: 1783253649
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
**From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author** Life-affirming - THE TELEGRAPH Wonderful - INDEPENDENT She made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled - RADIO 4 - WOMAN'S HOUR Take a leaf out of Gray's book and be kinder to yourself by appreciating life just as it is - IRISH TIMES This book came to me in an hour of need - during lockdown when I had to focus on the positive, appreciate simple things, not lose my shit, and value each day. It was a pure joy for me and held my hand - SADIE FROST Interesting and joyful. Lights a path that could help us to build resilience against society's urging to compare life milestones with peers - LANCET PSYCHIATRY Underwhelmed by your ordinary existence? Disillusioned with your middlin' wage, average body, 'bijou' living situation and imperfect loved ones? Welcome to the club. There are billions of us. The 'default disenchanted'. But, it's not us being brats. Two deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenons conspire against our satisfaction. We have negatively-biased brains, which zoom like doom-drones in on what's wrong with our day, rather than what's right. (Back in the mists of time, this negative bias saved our skins, but now it just makes us anxious). Also, something called the 'hedonic treadmill' means we eternally quest for better, faster, more, like someone stuck on a dystopian, never-ending treadmill. Thankfully, there are scientifically-proven ways in which we can train our brains to be more positive-seeking. And to take a rest from this tireless pursuit. Whew. Catherine Gray knits together illuminating science and hilarious storytelling, unveiling captivating research showing that big bucks don't mean big happiness, extraordinary experiences have a 'comedown' and budget weddings predict a lower chance of divorce. She reminds us what an average body actually is, reveals that exercising for weight loss means we do less exercise, and explores the modern tendency to not just try to keep up with the Murphys, but keep up with the Mega-Murphies (see: the social media elite). Come on in to this soulful and life-affirming read, to discover why an ordinary life may well be the most satisfying one of all.

The English Utilitarians

The English Utilitarians PDF Author: Leslie Stephen
Publisher: New York : [s.n.]
ISBN:
Category : Utilitarianism
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description


Organiz'd Innocence

Organiz'd Innocence PDF Author: Rudd E. Margaret
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317381254
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
First published in 1956, this book has been described by the author as something of a biographical novel, somewhere between formal scholarly criticism and a more creative form of writing. It looks at the meaning of Blake’s visions and how the troubles of his life affected his poems known as the prophetic books. It focuses on the story of the universal human spirit that these books present.

The Lancet

The Lancet PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medicine
Languages : en
Pages : 968

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Book Description


The New Way

The New Way PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description


A History of Psychology in Western Civilization

A History of Psychology in Western Civilization PDF Author: Bruce K. Alexander
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107007291
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 563

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Book Description
A fresh and radical analysis of psychology's scholarly roots and its potential for the future.

Waveland

Waveland PDF Author: Frederick Barthelme
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0385529325
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Set amidst the tatters of post-Katrina Gulf Coast Mississippi, Waveland is a brilliantly observed portrait of our times from one of the most incisive novelists at work today. Partially retired architect Vaughn Williams does what he can to remain "viable." Battling the doldrums of midlife, he teaches an occasional class, reads the newspapers, scours the Internet, and thinks obsessively about his late father. When his ex-wife seeks refuge from her hotheaded boyfriend, Vaughn and his girlfriend, Greta, agree to let her move in, perhaps a little too cavalierly. Add in Vaughan’s annoyingly successful younger brother, who carries a torch for Vaughn’s ex-wife, and lingering suspicions about Greta’s involvement in her husband’s murder and the result is an emotionally resonant tale of mortality, love, regret, and redemption that only Barthelme could unwind.