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Flourish

a Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being
JCS3F
Feb 09, 2014
'This book will help you flourish. There I have finally said it.' So Seligman begins his extemporaneous exploration of emotional and psychological growth. With such a self-imposed standard to achieve, 'Flourish' needed to be methodically constructed to provide a treasure trove practical advice to readers in admirable search of contentment. Instead, Seligman sprinkles a few moderately useful exercises throughout the book (write a nice letter to someone!) and profiles several exemplary individuals whose ability to frame a circumstance allowed them to transcend it. Unfortunately, Seligman also uses 'Flourish' as a public platform to parry his many adversaries. During his exploration of resiliency in the military, Seligman detours to defend himself against accusations that his work enabled the 'enhanced interrogations' that were later properly reclassified as torture. Toward the end of the book, he is inexplicably, distractingly diverted by a diatribe against Barbara Ehrenreich, a vocal skeptic of positive psychology. As Seligman himself points out in the first sentence of the preface, his grand, all-consuming goal was to be the enrichment of his fellow man. If so, wouldn't it have been nice to have given his fellow man more than a minor, supporting role?