Overview
Softcover in Good Condition
In this collection of eighteen essays, Jason Gay observes both the practical and ridiculous positive things about living in the modern age. Although he originally planned to gently mock the Cult of Advice and absurd Internet listicles, a difficult year at home--during which his father fell ill with cancer, and his wife gave birth to their second child--meant that he came to appreciate different things about life. Namely, not the big game, the grand gesture, or long-term plans, but the "little victories" of smaller, perfect moments which bring us happiness, even fleetingly.
Pithy and potently funny, as well as often heartfelt and surprisingly moving, Jason offers his insights on friendships (hoard your friends, but beware of birthday party creep); coolness (things that are supposed to be the coolest are actually not cool at all: i.e., a diaper bag that promises to make you look like Steve McQueen will never be cool--it will always be a diaper bag); illness (his father's pancreatic cancer and his own, more routine but still frightening bout with testicular cancer); and how to distinguish actual stressful situations (workplace termination; bear attack) from non-stressful inconveniences (Netflix is buffering; anything to do with fantasy sports).