The Happiness Fantasy [Hardcover]

In this devastatingly witty new book, Carl Cederström traces our present-day conception of happiness from its roots in early-twentieth-century European psychiatry, to the Beat generation, to Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. He argues that happiness is now defined by a desire to be authentic , to experience physical pleasure, and to cultivate a quirky individuality. But over the last fifty years, these once-revolutionary ideas have been co-opted by corporations and advertisers, pushing us to live lives that are increasingly unfulfilling, insecure and narcissistic.

In an age of increasing austerity and social division, Cederström argues that a radical new dream of happiness is gathering pace. There is a vision of the good life which promotes deeper engagement with the world and our place within it, over the individualism and hedonism of previous generations. Guided by this more egalitarian worldview, we can reinvent ourselves and our societies.

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 The Birth of the Happiness Fantasy: In Bed with Wilhelm Reich
• 2 Compulsory Narcissism: Happiness in an Age of Precariousness
• 3 Happiness Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of the Happiness Fantasy
• 4 Happiness Drugs: From Space-Age Mysticism to Productivity Enhancement
• 5 Pleasure: A Distinctly Male Fantasy
• Conclusion: Happiness after Trump
• Notes

‘With compelling clarity, wit, and wisdom, Carl Cederström cuts through the disabling illusions ceaselessly promoting the personal pursuit of happiness, offering instead an altogether richer, more compassionate, embrace of life and its vicissitudes.’