Contemporary Success Book Questionnaire
- Title and author: Why Your Life Sucks and What You Can Do About It, by Alan Cohen
- Why did you choose this book? It appealed to me because it didn’t seem to be as serious as a lot of the other books in the self help section. I wanted to choose something that was light-hearted but still beneficial. Humor was also an important factor because it is really hard for me to pay attention to a book that is dry and humorless.
- Did the book meet your expectations? In other words, is the content in line with your preconceived notions about it, or were there surprises for you? Be as specific as you can. It actually did. I was surprised with how well it connected to me personally and how a lot of the things he talked about have personally affected me. I also liked that he wasn’t so serious and knew how to make fun of himself. He didn’t tell you what you should be doing, but he described the types of things that might be responsible for the way you are feeling. I also didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.
- What is the main idea of the book you chose? What would the author say is the “take-home value” of the content? Basically his point was to be conscious in all your decisions and only worry about things that are in your realm of control. Let everything else happen as it should and make sure to have people around you who are positive and love life.
- How is the book organized: a calendar or chronology, a numbered list of ideas, a collection of essays, or something else? He uses some what of a list format. He gives you a “reason” and then little sub-sections with explanations and then a last section that tells you “what you can do about it.”
6. Is this organizational strategy successful? Why or why not? I think it was very effective. It kept up a fast pace and made the book really easy to read and re-read if necessary.
7. Based upon the distinctions we made in class, would you say that the book you chose is prescriptive or descriptive? Is this approach effective? I would have to say both descriptive and prescriptive because he takes time to describe the traits and activities in the first part of each section and then goes into an in-depth “prescription” of what you can do to change.
- Did you gain insight or understanding about the idea of living a successful life from this book? If so, in what way? If not, why not?
I defiantly think so. We all know that life is supposed to be enjoyable and fun, but most of us don’t know how to make it that way. Cohen gives insight into ways of thinking and activities that we can adopt in order to make life fun and not take ourselves too seriously.
9. Did you find ideas in the book you chose that are clearly influenced by the philosophers whose work we read in class? If so, name the philosophers and explain how their concepts align with the ideas in the book you chose. Epictetus was all over this book. I don’t even know if Cohen knew how much his concepts related with the philosopher. A lot of the things that Cohen said about you being responsible for you fit right in with the teachings of Epictetus. Quotes from Epictetus such as, “Seek not good from without: seek it from within yourselves, or you will never find it,” can be found all over Cohen’s work.
10. How might John Ramage view this book? How might his tools of analysis apply here? Well, seeing as how Ramage’s work is almost impossible to read I think that Ramage would probably view this book as too simple-minded and not up to par with his intelligence. He would probably write it off as concepts people are already supposed to know and not intellectual at all.
- Would you recommend that this book be included on a list of contemporary successful living books for a future class? Why or why not?
Maybe not, just because most of what he is saying has already been said. There are parts as well that seem to be a little corny and that might throw some people off.
