The Antidote

Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking

By: Oliver Burkeman

Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman

Brought to you by Penguin.

What if ‘positive thinking’ and relentless optimism aren’t the solution to the happiness dilemma, but part of the problem?

Oliver Burkeman turns decades of self-help advice on its head and paradoxically forces us to rethink our attitudes towards failure, uncertainty and death. It’s our constant efforts to avoid negative thinking that cause us to feel anxious, insecure and unhappy. What if happiness can be found embracing the things we spend our lives trying to escape? Wise, practical and funny, The Antidote is a thought-provoking, counter-intuitive and ultimately uplifting read, celebrating the power of negative thinking.

©2019 Oliver Burkeman (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Burkeman has written some of the most truthful and useful words on happiness to be published in recent years." (Guardian)

Best book ever!

Absolutely mind blowing and realistic help how to live a better life. I always doubted that Tony Robbins etc were full of bs, now I know. Feels great to be right and I love that I do not have to force positivity anymore. Good things do not come to those who wish for it and wait, good things come to those who do the work.

Fantastic!

This was so good, I'm going to need to go through it again to make sure I didn't miss anything!

Really helpful and fun.

Really enjoyable. Clear, understandable. Buddhism and Stoicism concepts delivered in great way and applicable for anyone. Thought provoking. Great narrator, calm and clear voice. Story really interesting and fun to listen to. Finished in a few days

Well researched

Well researched, orated definitively and thought provoking. It was an enjoyable listening to this book.

A more authentic way to develop positivity

So much Wisdom, that feel more real and practical and more human focused, than the tons of rinse and repeat shallow positivity literature online. I am challenge to be more at peace with uncertainty instead of cultivating the false sense of control and certainty.

just what I was looking for

this book gave me much more than just insights on happiness. it gives a new perspective on life

worth it and more

It is mind opening to listen to. concepts are made to reasonable layman's term and more

I missed a fil rouge

Like in the other book by the author I recently read/heard, Four Thousand Weeks, I miss a bit of a fil rouge.. Nice (smart and interesting) arguments, but they feel like stated, with no real connection in between them or overarching big picture view. Still recommendable. Also thanks to the way is written, with its subtle British humor and classiness in general.