Schadenfreude

The Joy of Another's Misfortune

De: Tiffany Watt Smith

Narrado por: Suzanne Toren

An entertaining and insightful exploration of schadenfreude: the deliciously dark and complex joy we've all felt, from time to time, at news of others' misfortunes.

You might feel schadenfreude when... the boss calls himself "Head of Pubic Services" on an important letter a cool guy swings back on his chair, and it tips over. a Celebrity Vegan is caught in the cheese aisle. an aggressive driver cuts you off -- and then gets pulled over. your co-worker heats up fish in the microwave, then gets food poisoning. an urban unicyclist almost collides with a parked car. someone cuts the line for the ATM -- and then it swallows their card. your effortlessly attractive friend gets dumped.

We all know the pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. The Germans named this furtive delight in another's failure schadenfreude (from schaden damage, and freude, joy), and it has perplexed philosophers and psychologists for centuries. Why can it be so satisfying to witness another's distress? And what, if anything, should we do about it?

Schadenfreude illuminates this hidden emotion, inviting readers to reflect on its pleasures, and how we use other people's miseries to feel better about ourselves. Written in an exploratory, evocative form, it weaves examples from literature, philosophy, film, and music together with personal observation and historical and cultural analysis. And in today's world of polarized politics, twitter trolls and "sidebars of shame," it couldn't be timelier.

Engaging, insightful, and entertaining, Schadenfreude makes the case for thinking afresh about the role this much-maligned emotion plays in our lives -- perhaps even embracing it.

Reseñas de la Crítica

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK OF HUMAN EMOTIONS

"In a world dominated by technology, it is comforting to have Tiffany Watt Smith serve as a guide through the dark woods of our emotions and to remind us: There's a WORD for that."
—Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools and The Art of X-Ray Reading

"Charming"—Melissa Dahl, New York Magazine

"One fun and breezy read."
—Susannah Cahalan, New York Post

"Have you ever felt an emotion that you wish you could express in words, but couldn't figure out quite how? Tiffany Watt Smith can help....Spend a little time learning these words, and it just may help you to understand emotions better."—Justin Bariso, Inc.

"As exhaustive and readable a book on emotional vernacular as I can ever recall seeing.... An eye-opening read perusing words with a multitude of origins that capture shades and flavors of emotions....This book is all about the ambiguity, and well worth checking out."—David DiSalvo, Forbes

Deserved Humor Isn't Delivered

From serious political reverses to simple pratfalls, schadenfreude calls for humor -- the sniggling we all enjoy. This book treats the subject almost clinically while the listener begs for the laughs that aren't there.