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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Fabulous!!!
Love, love, love the candid discussion on mental illness. She is hilariously honest!
This is probably the funniest book I’ve ever read!
The author describes her challenges in living with mental illness She finds the lows and zany aspects of life carry her both forward and backward She states We all get our insanity or drama or tragedy but what we do with that horror is what makes the difference We live in the negatives so often that we begin to understand that life when the sun shines should be lived full throttle soaring The invisible tether that binds the normal people on their steady course does not hold us the same way Sometimes we live underwater and fight and grow And sometimes we fly
For the first 3 chapters of the book Lawson had me doing that embarrassing loud snorky snicker wherever I was. She’s funny.
After chapter 3 I wanted Lawson to hush up. She reminded me of a hyper 16-year-old that thinks all their crazy ideas are hilarious. Truth be told most of Lawson’s ideas are hilarious, but she can be over whelming.
Towards the end of the Furiously Happy something clicked for me. Lawson doesn’t just show her readers her funny, she also shows readers her bruises. Lawson is honest about her mental illness and doesn’t excuse, disguise, or hide from it. She brings it out for the world to see. I respect her for that.
That had me thinking about myself. How I have a pretty wacky sense of humor that sometimes I censor. I have a habit of toning myself down. Lawson’s book Furiously Happy taught me not to do that. I needed to stop turning down the volume on my sense of humor because I didn’t think the world would “get it.”
For a horror author I’m pretty silly, maybe it’s a light and dark thing, who knows. What I do know is Lawson got on my nerves, but I loved her.
For all those people , who have a bad minute, hour, day or year, this book will definitely cheer you up, because for me it gave me a great happy mood in packages.
LOVED reading it!
In Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, Jenny Lawson uses “furiously happy” as a weapon to counter mental illness, and intends to “destroy the goddamn universe with my irrational joy and I will spew forth pictures of clumsy kittens and baby puppies adopted by raccoons and MOTHERFUCKING NEWBORN LLAMAS DIPPED IN GLITTER AND THE BLOOD OF SEXY VAMPIRES.” This is my kind of gal, someone who doesn’t let depression stop her from embracing her quirkiness and finding humour in the world around her.
Some chapters talk specifically about mental illness, but the majority are funny anecdotes. The book is jam-packed with all kinds of critters ranging from living to taxidermied to costumes, including Rory the scary as hell taxidermied raccoon on the front cover. There are also random observational rants, e.g. about female clothes not having pockets, and a pocketbook being neither pocket nor book. She talked about being bewildered by a Japanese computerized toilet, leaving me wanting to shout me too soul-sister!
She challenges some of the stigma around mental illness and its treatment. She sarcastically observed that if someone’s cancer returned, “it’s probably just a reaction to too much gluten or not praying correctly. Right?” And then there was the gem about dealing with medication side effects “which can include ‘feeling excessively stabby’ when coupled with some asshole telling you that ‘your medication not working is just proof you don’t really need medication at all.’”
You know those silent moments that crop up every so often when you’re seeing your therapist? Jenny knows how to fills those awkward silences with panache, with such observations as: “Is it normal to regret not making a sex tape when you were younger and your boobs still pointed vaguely at the ceiling when you were on your back? Because I feel like no one ever talks about that.”
She points out that seemingly having it all doesn’t mean not being depressed of anxious. She admitted that “I only have a few days a month where I actually feel like I was good at life… The other days I feel like I’m barely accomplishing the minimum or that I’m a loser.”
I don’t usually rely quite so heavily on quotes when writing reviews, but Jenny’s words are far funnier than mine, and I wanted to share some of my favourites. This book is laugh out loud hilarious, and a delightfully sneaky way of attacking stigma without being primarily about mental health. You will read more about taxidermy than you could ever imagined, and you might even be tempted to get your very own taxidermied armadillo purse (yup, that’s a real thing, Google it).
This was a VERY triggering book for me. She starts the book with a warning, that should be heeded.
I don’t get the love for this author’s work. Humor felt forced, and overall had the annoying tone of “look at how kooky and crazy I am.”
Jenny is the type of person who can argue over a potted plant and land you in hysterics, afraid to move because you might pee your pants. Her books are the equivalent of an AMAZING night at a comedy show. You close them and feel like exhaling big and charging out into the night with your arms over your head in search of a party to continue the mood.
Like many people with amazing humor, there’s hurt and insecurity feeding it. But Jenny’s bluntness with her own story and her ability to tease laughter and the best possible life from the ashes leaves more than a sore tummy – it leaves the reader with hope. However bad it gets? It’s gonna be ok because we’re gonna give that all the side-eye and giggle at how powerless it’s become.
After reading this, I encourage you (like I did) to follow Jenny on social media. She’s great there, too.
I loved this as much as I loved “Let’s Pretend this Never Happened”. Hilarious but very informative about depression and other mental illnesses. Very well written!
Loved it so much!!! Makes me feel NORMAL!!!
My favorite book by far. I wanted to keep reading but didn’t want to ever reach the end.
it’s a silly, quirky, realistic glimpse into the mind of an exceptional human.
LOVED this book! I think I might want to be Jenny Lawson when I grow up…
Incredible, hilarious, irreverent, messed up-what a book…
It’s hard to put down my feelings about this book. Except, for anyone who lives with anxiety and depression, OR around people with those conditions, this book lets you laugh about things you never thought possible, which is incredibly healing. Jenny Lawson has a witty and winning way about speaking about dark and awful things–like crippling anxiety and suicidal thoughts. If you’d like perspective on what it’s like to live with anxiety and depression OR you just need to feel a little crazy (or sane by comparison), give this book a read. You won’t be able to put it down.
It is of note that there is a LOT of bad language in this book. If that bothers you, move along. This isn’t the book for you.
A wonderful look into mental health. ***WARNING*** you might not want to read in public because you WILL laugh out loud
Jenny Lawson has her own special brand of humor that I love.
Much of the book seems like common sense.
It did offer different perspective or other
ways of looking at things regarding happiness and
quality of life. I feel more hopeful after reading the book.