Life, Death, and Other Inconvenient Truths: A Realist's View of the Human Condition (The MIT Press)

An expert on happiness presents an engaging and inspiring guide to making sense of the human condition via brief essays on concepts from action, to love, to thought, to youth.

This book offers a guide to human nature and human experience—a reference book for making sense of life. In thirty-eight short, interconnected essays, Shimon Edelman considers the parameters of the human condition, addressing them in alphabetical order, from action (good except when it's not) to love (only makes sense to the lovers) to thinking (should not be so depressing) to youth (a treasure). In a style that is by turns personal and philosophical, at once informative and entertaining, Edelman offers a series of illuminating takes on the most important aspects of living in the world.