Re: "The Small Stuff" book review

On Jul 31, 2026 at 10:53:13 AM EDT, "Noah Sombrero" <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:12:02 -0000 (UTC), Tara <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> 
>> (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.
> 
> In other words, why well off people are not happy.  So they pine for
> the good old days, forgetting that they were not happy then either.

Uhhh. No, not really what the book is about. 

why don't you read the book. 

> 
> "sleek, but soulless, design".  Of course that is not satisfying.  On
> the other hand, if a person has a satisfying fulfilled life, it won't
> matter what knickknacks one includes or not.  Who notices such things?
> 
> On the other hand, "automated self-checkout counters"?  Who puts up
> with such emptiness?  As if people needed another way to avoid
> interacting with each other.  But if you have plenty of human
> interaction in your life, maybe those counters wouldn't matter so
> much.  There it is, we are so isolated from each other in our cars,
> and lockable houses that we need to interact with clerks in stores.
> 
> How do we feel?  Lonely and bored.  Scared of each other, and out of
> patience with ideas we don't want to listen to (from other people).
> Simple, huh?

His approach is more about being aware of the pleasure and experience of
holding and drinking a warm cup of coffee on a cold morning.  kind of stuff
like that.


> 
>> 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