The Importance of Being Miserable: A short history of human happiness, and why sometimes it's good to...

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Eamon Evans

The Importance of Being Miserable

A short history of human happiness, and why sometimes it's good to feel bad

Eamon Evans

$36.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Affirm Press
01 January 2026

Society & culture: general; Psychology; Self-help & personal development

Humans just want to be happy, yes? After all, that’s what life’s all about.

Well ... no.

It turns out that, for a huge chunk of history, feeling good was the furthest thing from our minds. Expecting life to be fun and fulfilling (or, if all else fails, fine) is actually a very recent phenomenon. And there’s every reason to think that it’s making us sad.

A playful tour of Western ‘progress’, from ancient philosophers to modern-day pop stars via pills, priests, Proust and the plague, The Importance of Being Miserable explores how, why and when we all started to pursue happiness.

And why feeling bad may not actually be all that bad.

By: Eamon Evans
Imprint: Affirm Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781923135192
ISBN 10: 1923135198
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Eamon Evans is the author of fifteen books, one or two of them pretty good. He’s written about history, sport, scandals, words, films, alcohol and urban legends, but until The Importance of Being Miserable he’s not done much with his philosophy degree, apart from bore people at parties. Eamon lives with his family in Melbourne, where he writes, teaches, overwaters his garden and worries about going bald.