Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Doubleday (2018), 240 pages
Description
"Heather Havrilesky attempts to disrupt our cultural delusions and false dichotomies, to unearth moralistic interpretations of mundane human behaviors and interrogate so-called mistakes that we've slowly internalized, and to question the glorification of suffering, dishonesty, romantic fantasy, conquest, predation, and perfectionism"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
I bought this one because I'd seen Heather Havrilesky's TV and movie reviews and enjoyed her insights, but there's a whole lot more going on in "What If This Were Enough?" than I bargained for. Havrilesky has a special talent for seeing through the distracting nonsense that fills our
Of course, polemics against the way we live now can also go too far, and there are some places where I think the author might shade into arguments a bit too sentimental to really move a lot of potential readers. She emphasizes the importance of real human connection, but I think that some will doubt that there was every all that much of that to be found among us, even before we all plugged in to the world wide web. She argues passionately that believing in and loving yourself are essential not necessarily to success but to a certain kind of human contentment, and she might be right, but you can push that argument only so hard before your prose gets a bit too purple. Some readers might be put off by Havrilesky's authorial persona. She's protective, and rightly so, of the right to feel melancholy, conflicted, and wistful in a world that increasingly sees these feelings as signs of weakness. Throughout "What If This Were Enough" we see her describe and fight her insecurities, insist on her prerogatives, and try as best she can to celebrate her successes. These essays were never meant to be dry exercises in media criticism, but how you respond to them may depend, at least a little, on how you respond to Havrilesky herself: she has, after all, put a lot of herself into them. That being said, her diagnoses of what a hyperconsumerist society that insists, however subtly, that anything less than perfection constitutes failure and sees ordinary sadness and ambiguity as things to be eliminated as quickly as possible are as insightful and timely as anything I've read in the past few years. I wish that it was a bit higher up LibraryThing's rankings: this one often feels like the sort of book that many of us need right now.
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super-connected everyday to the logical endgame of much of modern American capitalism. The author seems to have a special talent for nosing out the creeping, discomfiting angst that lurks behind a lot of the institutions of the still relatively new internet age, whether it's guru culture or internet nostalgia or life-hacking or luxury living. The endless choices and opportunities for communication that the internet has facilitated has, in her view, skewed both our conceptions of ourselves and our values: the opportunity to live your "best life" can lead to success, but it can also make you feel lonely and alienated, and, should you not get to where you want to be, ashamed. Her central message, which is reiterated throughout this book, is that many of these media environments are more-or-less designed to make us feel weak, needy, insufficient and alienated, and that surviving them takes the courage to push back against the hidden assumptions that they make. Considering that techno-utopianism seems to have had a rough couple of years and many Americans still feel uncertain about both their economic futures and their value in a rapidly changing economy, this might be a message that a lot of people would benefit from hearing. Frankly, I'm probably one of those people myself. I reread several of these essays numerous times: the subject matter she was discussing felt familiar to me, but the implications of judging yourself and the world using internet-age metrics can be a hard habit to break. At its very best -- and there are some very good essays in this one -- reading Harvilesky can feel like getting deprogrammed. Maybe everyone who spends a whole lot of time cruising internet newsboards to no real purpose or who dreads looking at their Facebook feed lest they feel badly about themselves when they see that someone they knew at school has gotten married or published a book or something should read this one. Of course, polemics against the way we live now can also go too far, and there are some places where I think the author might shade into arguments a bit too sentimental to really move a lot of potential readers. She emphasizes the importance of real human connection, but I think that some will doubt that there was every all that much of that to be found among us, even before we all plugged in to the world wide web. She argues passionately that believing in and loving yourself are essential not necessarily to success but to a certain kind of human contentment, and she might be right, but you can push that argument only so hard before your prose gets a bit too purple. Some readers might be put off by Havrilesky's authorial persona. She's protective, and rightly so, of the right to feel melancholy, conflicted, and wistful in a world that increasingly sees these feelings as signs of weakness. Throughout "What If This Were Enough" we see her describe and fight her insecurities, insist on her prerogatives, and try as best she can to celebrate her successes. These essays were never meant to be dry exercises in media criticism, but how you respond to them may depend, at least a little, on how you respond to Havrilesky herself: she has, after all, put a lot of herself into them. That being said, her diagnoses of what a hyperconsumerist society that insists, however subtly, that anything less than perfection constitutes failure and sees ordinary sadness and ambiguity as things to be eliminated as quickly as possible are as insightful and timely as anything I've read in the past few years. I wish that it was a bit higher up LibraryThing's rankings: this one often feels like the sort of book that many of us need right now.
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LibraryThing member Kristymk18
Havrilesky’s aptly named book of essays examines and critiques materialism, consumption, and our obsession with consumerism and the pursuit of happiness. Pulling largely from pop culture and current trends and fads, she delves into the world of foodies, 50 Shades, Disneyland, The Sopranos,
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romance, and so much more. Each essay is strong in their own right and collectively they make a small tome that packs a punch and causes one to examine their own lust for such things. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tytania
It was the title that pulled me in. Although self-help is a weakness I am only lately feeling "done" with, I've been uncomfortable for a long time with our culture's emphasis on constant personal improvement. If you're female, with female friends, just spend less than two minutes on Facebook - and
So yeah. The title. What if this were enough? It's really simple.
Her essays run across a variety of subjects, but usually end by coming back to that theme in some way - and sometimes it feels forced, but I'm always glad to get back there, so it's OK.
A number of the essays are all about TV shows I've never seen and couldn't care less about. She was a TV critic. I just skipped those chapters. Eliminate the TV commentary, and the book is 5 stars from me.
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that seems to be all it's about. "I'm so awesome, AND I'm improving all the time!" Except you're not and you're not. That's what bugs me. We all look back on the year when we reach another birthday or another New Year's Eve, and we think that we're so much happier and better in every way than we were in years past. But by any objective measure, we aren't - we DON'T CHANGE. Except that we do in fact get older and uglier, but nobody will admit that either. It's all such BS, and I succumb to it myself, but I at least acknowledge it as a sometimes-convenient fiction.So yeah. The title. What if this were enough? It's really simple.
Her essays run across a variety of subjects, but usually end by coming back to that theme in some way - and sometimes it feels forced, but I'm always glad to get back there, so it's OK.
A number of the essays are all about TV shows I've never seen and couldn't care less about. She was a TV critic. I just skipped those chapters. Eliminate the TV commentary, and the book is 5 stars from me.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
I bought this because I enjoy Heather's writing as Ask Polly for The Cut. I think her advice is kind but also honest, and she preaches self-compassion. I found the essays to be uneven and only tenuously linked. I wished for more of a connection. The strongest essays for me were the personal (the
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older boyfriend, her mother's house) and the ones that skewered our current environment of constant self-improvement, all toward a nebulous goal of ultimate happiness and living your "best life" that realistically can never be achieved. Show Less
LibraryThing member jphamilton
A collection of essays, like a collection of most anything, have some brilliant, some damn good, some pretty good, and some that don't connect. Many of the first essays were just perfect, many of the following were quite good. She can write wonderfully. She will also get the reader laughing, and in
I don't normally quote back cover blurbs, but I can't resist this one by Julie Beck from The Atlantic:
"Havrilesky writes things that are like opening up the fridge and finding the universe inside."
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the midst of appreciating that humor, that reader will realize what a profound point she has made. The range of topics is broad and engaging. I appreciate this collection for how it made me think, ponder, and laugh.I don't normally quote back cover blurbs, but I can't resist this one by Julie Beck from The Atlantic:
"Havrilesky writes things that are like opening up the fridge and finding the universe inside."
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LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile
Enjoyable collection of personal reflections from an appealing contemporary voice. The more personal the essay was, the stronger it was for me; she's great at thinking out loud about modern life, the disconnects between our selves and what we portray to others and how society impacts our
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relationships. The TV and pop culture essays I felt were less successful. But if you want a thoughtful collection of essays from a place of warmth and self-betterment (not self-help) this is it. Show Less
LibraryThing member libraryhead
Has an undeniable way with a sentence, but , in the end I’m not sure it amounts to much.
LibraryThing member AngelaLam
Not the same as Ask Polly. I was disappointed.
Awards
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018
Physical description
240 p.; 5.71 inches
ISBN
9780385542883