"The Small Stuff" book review

(I haven't read this book yet but I heard the author interviewed on CBC this
a.m and liked what he said).  Just another self-help book or one of that ilk?
 Nah, I don't think so.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-small-stuff-how-to-lead-a-more-gratifying-life-ian-bogost/bb5309da15426d51?ean=9781668062630&affiliate=12476
 

And -
 
The Small Stuff
How to lead a more gratifying life
-Ian Bogost -  Atlantic Columnist

 Out summer 2026.


    “The world tells us that the path to happiness is to go bigger in
everything: experiences, success, consumption—all of it. In The Small Stuff,
Ian Bogost shows us why this is the wrong approach to the good life—that the
true secret lies in discovering life’s little delights.”
    —Arthur C. Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    “Brilliant…I loved this profound, witty, and quietly revolutionary book.
Ian Bogost makes the liberating case that the material world is teeming with
unexpected opportunities for life-enhancing sensory pleasure—and that all we
need to do is to allow ourselves to experience them.”
    —Oliver Burkeman, New York Times bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks
    “The Small Stuff is a clarion call to rediscover the quiet joys woven into
everyday routines. Bogost argues that in our rush toward efficiency and
digital convenience, we’ve lost touch with the tangible world—and its simple
gratifications that bring real contentment. This wonderful book reminds us
that happiness isn’t out of reach. Rather, it’s right under our fingertips.”
    —Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of Supercommunicators and The Power of
Habit

About the Book

In an era dominated by convenience and efficiency, one would think that life
would be simpler, easier, and most importantly, happier. After all, shouldn’t
all the time saved with machines and technology leave us with more time for
ourselves? The Atlantic columnist Ian Bogost thinks not. From QR code menus
and digital tickets to automated self-checkout counters, he argues that the
simple pleasures of daily life have been stripped away, replaced by sleek, but
soulless, design.

Through engaging anecdotes and sharp analysis, Bogost uncovers how modern
conveniences not only fail to deliver on their promises but also rob us of
small, satisfying tasks and moments that keep us grounded and human. He
challenges us to rethink our daily interactions with the material world and
illuminates how the loss of these tangible interactions has contributed to
widespread feelings of disconnection and dissatisfaction.

But all hope is not lost. Bogost guides us to identify and appreciate the
overlooked joys hidden in everyday life. By reforming how we approach ordinary
tasks, we can rediscover the gratification embedded in the tactile world
around us.

Humorous, thought-provoking, and practical, The Small Stuff reveals that
finding joy isn’t about achieving monumental happiness or prolonged
satisfaction. It’s about doing small things, deliberately and with attention,
to unlock the basic pleasures that flavor our daily lives.

A Note from Ian, before publication

I wrote a new book! It will be my first new book in 10 (!) years. I guess I
needed that long to figure out what was worth sharing in this many words, in a
way that I felt good asking my readers to buy and carry and so forth.

It all started when I wrote about the end of the stick-shift transmission for
The Atlantic in 2022. Millions of people read that story, which I didn't
expect! I wondered What It Meant, what signal that interest meant to send.

After thinking about that question for six months or so, I realized that the
manual transmission is just one of many more ways people have become
disconnected from their own lives. I don't even start my car with a key
anymore, I just press a button. Heck, you can't even turn on a restroom faucet
or dispense a towel by yourself. The sensory world, the world we share with
things of all kinds, living and human-made, has been withdrawing from our
contact for years, and for lots of reasons. That loss feels bad—and you
probably didn't even notice it happening, because it happened so slowly.

This book explains many of those reasons, among them automation, computation,
regulatory change, and shifting habits of work and home life. It also offers a
way out, and one that you can actually achieve, and one that's easy besides.
If you're thinking, wait, Bogost wrote a happiness book?, then, yeah, I did,
but I promise it's like no other such book.

The key idea in The Small Stuff is gratification, a kind of contentment that
is different from happiness and satisfaction. I rescue this concept from the
psychologists and economists who have misunderstood or ruined it, and I
explain how gratification can help make every day of your life just a little
better. All those little-betters will add up.

If you've been following my work at all over the years (and decades) I've been
writing and making stuff, this book is sort of a summation of everything I've
learned from games, computing, philosophy, design, and the built environment.
And more. If you've wondered where I took my game-design interests, this is
the answer. If you wondered what was next for me as a phenomenologist, this is
the answer. (If you don't know what phenomenology is, don't worry, the word
does not appear in the book, nor do any other scary words). If you wondered
what someone who writes about AI, toasters, and lemon-lime soda thinks all of
those things have in common, this is the answer. It's helpful, and hopeful
(for real), and useful, and fun and super chill besides. Anybody can read it,
and I hope everyone will.

The Small Stuff will be published by Simon & Schuster / Atria in the USA and
Penguin in the UK in summer 2026