The Happiness Fantasy

'With compelling clarity, wit, and wisdom, Carl Cederstr m cuts through the disabling illusions ceaselessly promoting the personal pursuit of happiness, offering instead an altogether richer, more compassionate, embrace of life and its vicissitudes.' Lynne Segal, author of Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy 'In this lively and acerbic book, Carl Cederstr m provides a compelling history of how a particular psychoanalytic ideal of happiness sucked us in, promising total fulfilment but ultimately trapping us in a lie.' Will Davies, Goldsmiths, University of London 'A wonderful piece of work.' Simon Critchley, New School for Social Research 'Happiness is big business - and big politics - these days. But as Cederstr m reveals in this sharp and engaging book, its recent history can be disturbing. Combining humour with a much-needed scepticism, he shows that in a world of happiness, not all is smiles.' Darrin M. McMahon, author of Happiness: A History Pleasure was at the heart of the liberation struggles of the 1960s' but has morphed into a new form of ideology and tyranny, fed by the capitalist logic of incessant consumption. The happy self is not only a fantasy, an imperative to fulfill our potential, but also the impulse behind a wide variety of economic enterprises, orgasmic workshops, drugs, therapies, etc. Cedertrom's The Happiness Fantasy is a well-written, lively, and critical study of the fantasy that has wormed inside the core of our culture. Eva Illouz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem