Re: "The Small Stuff" book review

On 7/31/2026 8:43 AM, Tara wrote:
> 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. :)
> 
Noah came here to get enlightened.>
>>
>>>>
>>>>> 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