The Small Stuff

The Sensory Enchantment of Everyday Life

By: Ian Bogost

Brought to you by Penguin.

In an era dominated by convenience and efficiency, you’d think life would be easier and, most importantly, happier. Shouldn’t all the time saved by technology leave us with more for ourselves? The Atlantic columnist, game-designer and philosopher Ian Bogost thinks not. From digital tickets to automated taps, he argues that the simple, tactile pleasures of daily life have been replaced by sleek but soulless design.

Through engaging anecdotes and sharp analysis of our dematerialised lives, Bogost uncovers how modern conveniences not only fail to deliver on their promises but also rob us of moments that keep us grounded and human. The Small Stuff is not a nostalgic trip through the analogue world of a bygone era but instead reframes our view of the material world, from merely utilitarian into a site of joy and gratification. Finding happiness, Bogost shows us, doesn’t require complete self-transformation, but simply noticing the sensory pleasures all around us.

Humorous, thought-provoking, and practical, The Small Stuff is a manifesto for re-enchanting us with the world, by observing and enjoying the small moments that make up our lives.

© Ian Bogost 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critic reviews

A clarion call to rediscover the quiet joys woven into everyday routines. . . . This wonderful book reminds us that happiness isn’t out of reach. Rather, it’s right under our fingertips (Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit )

I loved this profound, witty, and quietly revolutionary book. Ian Bogost makes the liberating case that the material world is teeming with unexpected opportunities for life-enhancing sensory pleasure – and that all we need to do is to allow ourselves to experience them (Oliver Burkeman)

The world tells us that the path to happiness is to go bigger in everything: experiences, success, consumption—all of it. In The Small Stuff, Ian Bogost shows us why this is the wrong approach to the good life—that the true secret lies in discovering life’s little delights (Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Strength to Strength )