Life and How to Survive It

A well developed treatise on living life honestly and to your fullest potential. All aspects of your relationship to self and others (individuals and community) are covered. A sincere effort at bringing about authenticity to the world. Get beyond cover up work and get to being who you are, accepting that or changing it to be who you would like to be in this world. A good team to write together, they present this material with humor and insight. No better way to learn than with a smile on your face.

This book begins with the question 'what makes a person sane?' and expands on it to create one of the greatest books of all time. Each chapter (with a variably related afterthought) comments on a different level of society, from individuals, to businesses and similar organizations, to nations and societies, to religion, and finally to the coda 'All change please'. The third chapter contains an excellent comparison between the Americans and the Japanese which I recommend to any American to see the sillier parts of their culture.

I have a horrible feeling that I will be dissapointed...this is the first book on psychology that I have ever read and I just know that none will match it for it's practicality, it's easy of understandiing and it's ease of reading. Eminently enjoyable. You will discover a lot about yourself, your friends, your work and even your country in this gem. Everyone should be able to find something to make their life more enjoyable and fulfilling.

2 things very unique about this book: 1) it is a discussion of robust mental health (as opposed to mental pathology). 2) the discussion is layed out as a dialogue/script between the co-authors. Instead of discussing the symptoms, causes and cures of mental pathology, the authors discuss the "olympians of mental health" and the things they all tend to have in common. After covering the aspects of individual mental health, the authors expand their scope to the mental health of families, organizations, businesses, countries and cultures. For my second reading "Life.." became my morning "devotional" book. I found myself being transported to an imaginary room where I sat and listened quietly to John and Robyn, looked them in the eyes, laughing and crying with them. The profound effect of these daily trysts was that over time I was developing the same awe, wonder and respect for the "olympians" that the authors had. I also found myself becoming more like the "olympians of emotional health" that we admired so much. I've read thousands of books and this one has had a more profound effect on me than any other that I can recall. I gave the book a score of 9 only because in a few places the discussion and banter become a bit boring (but you listen patiently because you're with friends). If you like this book, you also will like "Families and how..". If you've read this book and enjoyed it like I have, please send me e-mail, I'd really like to hear from you.

Especially the part about how relationships can be made work better is especially practical and usable. The rest of the bood is a insightful conversation by comic John Cleese and family therapist Robin Skynner. And it is really interesting to listen