Life Stinks!

This is a tiny 80 page book devoted to pessimism. Not intended as an art book at all, it nevertheless features a small handful of details from Edvard Munch paintings, with the infamous "Scream" taking center stage. The book's focus is the broad philosophical brushstroke that makes up the title; thus it can be viewed as harrowingly serious or quipsterly silly. I'd say the latter is what the editor was attempting.It mostly works. A short introduction of the concept of "Murphy's Law" (anything that can go wrong, will) leads into anecdotes demonstrating the evidence for the book's claim. The too-true-to-be-believed stories, encapsulated in approximately a paragraph each, are drawn from history, politics, business, even sports. Some, like the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic, are famous, where others, such as a drowning accident at a swim party for 200 lifeguards and the story of a boxer who actually lost by knocking *himself* out, are slightly more obscure. The best part of the book is a section devoted to witty, biting quotations, ranging from to G.B. Shaw's "Success is merely one acheivement that covers up a multitude of blunders," to Voltaire's "Optimism is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell." My favorite: Jules Feiffer's "Getting out of bed in the morning is an act of false confidence."There are unfortunately no sources provided, but do you really need them? From a Matisse painting being hung upside down at a museum for 44 days to a woman golfer taking 166 strokes on a single hole, this small volume is a gift chock full of ammunition for the favorite cynic in your life. As for the book's claim-- you need to make up your own mind as to the truth or untruth. I already have...