Re: "The Small Stuff" book review

On Jul 31, 2026 at 11:31:03 AM EDT, "Noah Sombrero" <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:15:17 -0000 (UTC), Tara <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> 
>> 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.
> 
> Yes, understood.  Is life about more than being aware of such
> pleasures?  Is pleasure fulfilling?  Is there any insight in this:
> 
> Frustrated desire causes sighs, and nobody sighs more than contented
> people.
> 
> What exactly does that mean?  What are the implications?

Sorry, been there, done the philosophical tangles (too much) and now I'm ready
to move on to the basics. :)   


> 
>>> 
>>>> 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