Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things

by Jenny Lawson

Book Overview

In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.

But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

As Jenny says:

Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos.

Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'

Furiously Happy is about taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between surviving life and living life. It's the difference between taking a shower and teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair. It's the difference between being sane and being furiously happy.

Lawson is beloved around the world for her inimitable humor and honesty, and in Furiously Happy, she is at her snort-inducing funniest. This is a book about embracing everything that makes us who we are - the beautiful and the flawed - and then using it to find joy in fantastic and outrageous ways. Because as Jenny's mom says, Maybe 'crazy' isn't so bad after all. Sometimes crazy is just right.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250077001
• ISBN13: 9781250077004
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: Flatiron Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Inspirational Dark Humor

I related so closely with so much the author talked about in this book, right down to collecting taxidermy animals. It made me feel like I'm not the only one experiencing life through severe ups and downs and her dark humor is absolutely spot on to my internal dialog. If you're looking for sunshine and rainbows, look elsewhere. If you're looking for manic realism, this is the book for you.

Laugh out loud funny

Very oddly funny at times, and painfully real at times. Anyone that struggles with anxiety or depression will relate.

Love this cover

I bought this book for a reading challenge and because the cover is so funny. Jenny Lawson is amazing! She's so brave to write about herself the way she does and gives those of us that are not as brave a way to commiserate.

I have ordered 3 copies of this book

One for myself. One for my daughter who works as an advocate and counselor for young people in mental health crisis. One for a niece who battles anxiety and depression. I have read this. My husband has read this. It is WONDERFUL. I am so happy this book exists. I have had very dark times in my life. I do not read books that are "inspirational" because they make me irritable, and remind me of my childhood hours in hospital waiting rooms reading dog-eared Readers Digest stories of survivors, saintly people with brain tumors, etc etc. If you run the opposite direction from a Feel Good sad story with a Meaning and sweeping score of violins or slow tinkly piano music -- but you are slogging through some mire - read this.

Furiously Happy is a book I really enjoy lending to friends.

Everybody could use more laughs. If you are a mom, love cats, have anxiety, or just like the reaction you get when carrying a book with a racoon on the cover, then, YOU NEED THIS BOOK!

So good

I'm not a big reader. I read like 2-3 books per year and this one made me laugh out loud. I love Jenny Lawson & the way she talks about mental illnesses. It's comforting.

Hilarious

I laughed out loud reading this book. It reminded me that some people are given tough roads to walk, but with optimism, perseverance, and humor there are still so many wonderful things to enjoy in this world and they are worth fighting for.