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 … 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.
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I was shocked when I dove into this book. I don’t think I was expecting the forward speaking this author uses. I LOVED it. This books makes me feel ups and downs. This book confirmed there are other people in the world thinking in the same line as I do, but not always the same.
Great read for full belly laughs and seriousness of non fiction. Adult language is present, so don’t be too shocked.
Holy cow. Jenny is hilarious! I was lucky to get a copy of this book on sale and I read it immediately. Although her hilarious antics had me laughing till I cried, I also found her book to be inspirational. I highly recommend this one!
This book was a gift from Flat iron Books and author Jenny Lawson in return for an objective review.
The author demonstrates her incredible talent by telling a story of her lifelong struggle with mental illness. She specifically struggles with depression and anxiety. There is no self pity, no regrets. I laughed uproariously at her stories! I cried for her struggles. Yet her bravery and talent are above pity! I can say I learned from her, I laughed with her, I cried for her! But she has no regrets, no apologies! This is one of the most influential books of the year! I will read this again! I feel as though she, in her talent, was speaking just to me! I must have her first book! An experience, not just a book! This is a MUST READ!
I LOVED this book! Jenny Lawson is both hilarious and heartfelt with her descriptions of her struggles living with mental illness. She had me laughing out loud often, while looking deep within myself as well. I just bought her first book, and I can’t wait to read it now!
This book is so funny! The subject matter is very serious but the author’s outlook and humor shine through to make it a great read.
I have never laughed out loud so much while reading. And,my family circumstances seem less crazy by comparison, not that that is nice. But, this girl would be someone I would love to call a friend because she is really a very dear person. And crazy funny.
Furiously Happy was a wonderful, hilarious memoir. It was one of those things that was funny yet sad, although we knew it was okay because Lawson was writing about herself at her own expense – she was owning the embarrassing things that she had done or that had happened to her. Most of all, though, Furiously Happy demonstrated Lawson’s uniqueness. The stories were refreshing, and told us that there is someone else suffering from crippling anxiety and depression, too. For me, it told me that there is someone else too “high functioning” to be ill.
Furiously Happy was one of those books that makes you want to immediately pick up all of Lawson’s other books. It was funny yet realistic, and brutally honest. Furiously Happy also sent an important message – you are not alone. I found myself laughing out loud frequently, and just as frequently reading passages to my husband. He also found them amusing. I loved that Lawson has her own rules, rules that keep her from writing other people’s stories or writing stories that children will use against her daughter someday.
I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from a mental illness or curious about it and wants to read a lighthearted, funny story from behind the scenes of someone suffering with mental illness.
The fact that Jenny Lawson has written another book makes me FURIOUSLY HAPPY–and I mean that! I truly love the way she writes, the way she views and shares her personal experiences, and (I have a feeling) she understands there are others who “have never been normal” (myself included!) I dare you to read this book and not laugh–impossible!
Loved this book. It has you laughing and simultaneously feeling the author’s experience.
Jenny Lawson has a gift so few possess. She can make anything funny. Growing up with a dad that scares you with dead squirrels in cereal boxes. Meeting the love of your life while he’s wearing questionable attire. And most improbably, mental health. Her humor gives the perfect lightness to the serious subject matter she deals in, aka her life. Her honesty and bluntness aren’t just matter of fact or even self-deprecating though, it’s downright inspirational. I recommend Lawson to everyone I meet. I’ve seriously considered handing this book to my mother and telling her to read it If she truly wants to understand me. I love this book.
A blogger charts her hilariously flawed course as it continues through this strange thing we call life. Taxidermy ensues.
I liked this a lot; my only gripe is that it’s so painfully true that I had to take breaks, the same way you do when the guy got kicked in the crotch on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Her other book is a funnier, as a natural result if having decades of stories to get off her chest, but this one touched me more. A nice read.
The way this book is written you feel like the author is your best friend, the way she explains what happens in her life makes it relatable. Helps you to feel like your not the only one who has crazy feelings sometimes and maybe try not to take yourself so seriously.
And again…laughed out loud many times. Read this.
Sub-titled ‘a funny book about horrible things’, this was laugh-out-loud funny, and thought provoking. A lot of the book is about the author’s life long struggle with crippling depression and anxiety, which you wouldn’t think was funny at all, but in the hands of Jenny Lawson you’d be wrong. She is the off the wall, crazy lady you either wish, or fear, would live next door. Her stories are fantastic and unbelievable, but her voice is so clear and honest that I suspect they’re true – even renting two kangaroos and bringing them home. The other book I’d highly recommend as laugh out loud funny is “Sleeping With Your Gynecologist” by Mark Jaffe. Mr. Jaffe is married to a gynecologist, and shares anonymous stories of wild encounters that he heard from his wife. I can attest to the truth of the stories because I worked in an ob/gyn office for 15 years, in the same city as his wife, and heard quite a few of these stories from the doctors involved (always free of names and identifiers). This was possibly the funniest book I ever read.
This was my first book by Jenny Lawson but after this great read it won’t be my last. Jenny has a great knack for storytelling in which I was envisioning the scene in my head and feeling the emotions along with it. There are some tough stories to read about but impprtant for the story and to know that others may not be alone. It was quite eyeopening!
A Jenny Lawson book always makes my day brighter. She’s witty, funny, and not afraid to talk about the dark side of chronic illness and mental illness with candor and humor to balance it. I feel less alone. Thank you, Jenny.
Jenny Lawson is a wonderful writer. She is so fun and outright hilarious. Yet, you learn so much from her books. I know friends who struggle with mental illness and through reading Jenny’s books I have come to see a little better what their lives are like. Jenny is the narrator for her books and I love that too. For me, the author as the narrator always is a win.
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
by Jenny Lawson
I finally got around to this book! I imagine every body else on Goodreads has already read or listened to it but better late than never! I loved it so much!!!! I got the Audible from the library and I am glad I did. It’s narrated by the author. She is crazy funny! What she writes is funny and she delivers it hilariously!
She may talk about anxiety and depression but she also talks about just about everything and makes everything funny! She makes burdens funny! I really needed this! I may have to get the Audible for myself so I can listen to it when I need a dose of pick-me-up!
If I am not the last on Goodreads to get the Lawson Melancholy Cure, then get the Audible book and enjoy. My face hurt from smiling and laughing for so long!
Delving in to the life and mind of someone suffering from depression doesn’t seem as though it would be an enjoyable way to spend your limited reading time. However, the author’s honest, funny and direct approach about her relationship with her husband and her life’s challenges creates a model of dealing with expectations.
Jenny is crazy. Haha crazy but normal crazy, too.