The Promise of Happiness

An unsettling but also surprisingly comforting book about how happiness is used as a disciplinary strategy in modern western society. Ahmed writes beautifully and incorporates literary and film analysis into her cultural critique seamlessly. I often skip long sections of textual analysis if I haven't read/seen the work being critiqued, but I was able to read through all of Ahmed because of her skillful descriptions and the perfect way she handles incorporating them into her points.

Had to read this book for a class. It was an excruciating read. While there are some really good nuggets in here, it's just too dense and scholarly of a read to read for pleasure. The book is very thoroughly researched, though. If you enjoy reading theory or philosophy, you'll probably get a lot out of this book.

Such a brilliant critic!!

Love it.

Ahmed throughly explores happiness - it's meanings and applications. Rare in scholarly work, her writing is Both informative and beautiful.

ok

A little professorial, but I guess that was the intent.

Was purchased as a gift and was as expected.

This is a really helpful and readable text. The introduction, then chapters 2 3 and 4, are especially good. Chapter 1 was a bit dry for me - but it was laying down important groundwork, so I guess that's just academic writing for you. Ahmed is wonderful. It'll do you a lot of good to get acquainted with her work whether you're in academia or not. Ahmed also has a blog called feministkilljoys, which is great, so if you're a little unsure about purchasing this, then go there and read some of her work first.Queer the status quo! Wrestle with normative happiness expectations and promises! Break down the walls and embrace possibility! etcetc

Item was as expected

Awesome!

Too many words to describe ideas that have been said before.