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  • The Antidote

  • Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
  • Written by: Oliver Burkeman
  • Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
  • Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (99 ratings)

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The Antidote

Written by: Oliver Burkeman
Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
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Publisher's Summary

The Antidote is a series of journeys among people who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. What they have in common is a hunch about human psychology: that it’s our constant effort to eliminate the negative that causes us to feel so anxious, insecure, and unhappy. And that there is an alternative "negative path" to happiness and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid. It is a subversive, galvanizing message, which turns out to have a long and distinguished philosophical lineage ranging from ancient Roman Stoic philosophers to Buddhists. Oliver Burkeman talks to life coaches paid to make their clients’ lives a living hell, and to maverick security experts such as Bruce Schneier, who contends that the changes we’ve made to airport and aircraft security since the 9/11 attacks have actually made us less safe. And then there are the "backwards" business gurus, who suggest not having any goals at all and not planning for a company’s future.

Burkeman’s new audiobook is a witty, fascinating, and counterintuitive listen that turns decades of self-help advice on its head and forces us to rethink completely our attitudes toward failure, uncertainty, and death.

©2012 Oliver Burkeman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Antidote

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A limited perspective on positivity

While I agree with Oliver that the self help industry is full of flash and charlatans, his overly pessimistic attitude is apparent in between the lines as I made my way from chapter to chapter. This book would have been so much better if he didn’t overly simplify positivity as merely something the ultra naive believe in. Not a lot garnered from this book unfortunately.

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Witty and Entertaining!

Oliver Burkeman presents the negative path to happiness as it was understood by the ancient Stoics and modern psychologists.

A fun and interesting book!

#Audible1

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Absolutely refreshing and true

Burkeman might be the most insightful person I’ve read on this topic. Incredibly refreshing. This book will stay with me for a long time. A unique thinker. Starting to realize his genius. Will read all his other work for sure. Rare to see someone think things through like this, with this rigour. Thank you so much Oliver.

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Intriguing listen

The lower your expectations are for this book, the more pleased you’ll be with the end result. :) (Listen to the audiobook, & you’ll understand).

I love when books are read by their author - Burkeman is not only an incredible writer, but narrator too! What a lovely gift to his listeners.

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Life lessons for the resistant

These lessons should be in all of our lives well before the 3 R's. We cultivate the wrong kind of negativity over lifetimes, yet are puzzled when we find ourselves starting up from the bottom of a dark pit. Time to wake up.

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Excellent argument for stoicism

Witty and engaging and really well narrated. Utterly unlike self-help books while still being a good self-help guide. It's not 20 pages of advice with 200 pages of fluff bulking it up.

A great introduction for people who prefer to find their own way.

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