You Are Awesome

November 4, 2019
In this undercooked work, Pasricha (The Happiness Equation), 1000 Awesome Things blogger and host of the 3 Books podcast, offers nine concepts that, with mixed effectiveness, promise to initiate the reader into a “secret” life of inner strength. Pasricha’s nuggets of perceived wisdom range from decent advice (don’t relent “in the face of things that look immovable”) to the less helpful (the only possible movement is forward). Pasricha’s writing is punchy (“benign envy is contagious... it motivates others to improve their own performance”) but also tends toward oversimplification. Secrets he lets readers in on include “keep your options infinite,” “shift the spotlight” (direct one’s attention to what is important), see challenges as a “step,” and “tell yourself a different story.” Fans of the author’s blog will find his trademark style in evidence here; however, newcomers may find Pasricha’s prose shallow (“real growth doesn’t come through destruction. It comes from taking what came before and integrating it into a greater whole”), his claims poorly substantiated, and much of his logic worrying—as in the section on “always moving forward,” in which he treats his father’s refusal ever to return to his native India (with no substantive explanation), where he still has family, as behavior to be admired and copied. This is a slick but ultimately underwhelming production with little to appeal to the thoughtful reader.