Everyone says they want to be happy. But that's much more easily said than done. What does being happy actually mean? And how do you even know when you feel it? Across the millennia, philosophers have thought long and hard about happiness. They have defined it in many different ways and come up with myriad strategies for living the good life. Drawing on this vast body of work, in Happy Derren Brown explores changing concepts of happiness—from the surprisingly modern wisdom of the Stoics and Epicureans in classical times right up until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. He shows how many of self-help’s suggested routes to happiness and success—such as positive thinking, self-belief and setting goals—can be disastrous to follow and, indeed, actually cause anxiety. This brilliant, candid and deeply entertaining book exposes the flaws in these ways of thinking, and in return poses challenging but stimulating questions about how we choose to live and the way we think about death. Happy aims to reclaim happiness and to enable us to appreciate the good things in life, in all their transient glory. By taking control of the stories we tell ourselves, by remembering that "everything’s fine" even when it might not feel that way, we can allow ourselves to flourish and to live more happily.

Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Fine

Brown, Derren

Religion & Spirituality

Transworld

Everyone says they want to be happy. But that's much more easily said than done. What does being happy actually mean? And how do you even know when you feel it? 
Across the millennia, philosophers have thought long and hard about happiness, and come up with all sorts of different definitions and ideas for how we might live a happier life. Here, Derren explores the history of happiness from classical times until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. His aim is to reclaim happiness for us all, and enable us to appreciate the really good things in life for what they are. Fascinating, entertaining and revelatory, this is a book for anyone who has ever wondered if there must be more to life...

Happy: Why more or less everything is absolutely fine

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

BANTAM PRESS

Absolute Magic

H & R Magic Books

As well as being an incredible stage performer, a brilliant writer and a talented painter, Derren Brown is also a fantastic street photographer. Here, for the first time, is a selection of his work. As he writes of his passion:
'Street photography is a fitting refuge for those who look at life from a distance. It both sanctifies our remoteness (by offering the standpoint of the observer) and challenges it, insisting we approach with a spritely curiosity. It offers a safe route back into the world: the camera is an entry ticket to daunting social situations and extraordinary environments where we might otherwise feel entirely out of place. Suddenly we have a role: a reason to be present. And for those of us smitten by its appeal, it provides a means of fortifying and forgetting ourselves, while extending out into the world with a controlled compassion.'

Meet the People with Love

Humor & Entertainment

."Friction and struggle lead to growth."\nIn A Book of Secrets, internationally bestselling author Derren Brown considers the value and benefit of having pain in our lives, asking:\nIs it in those moments that we are faced with adversity that we find the most lasting rewards? 
Do we spend so much time trying to make sense of our lives that we forget what makes us wonderfully us? 
What are the secrets that show us how to meet challenging moments head on?\nIn thirteen fascinating chapters, Derren takes us back to his own scenes of childhood humiliation, to lonely evenings on tour, to being paralysed by shyness at a dinner party hosted by famous guests, to navigating middle age and to finding love. By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times.\nA Book of Secrets is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.

A Book of Secrets: Finding comfort in a complex world THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Self-Help

Motivational

Brilliant . . . crammed with wisdom and insight.' Stephen Fry on Happy\nIn A Little Happier Derren Brown draws out the essential discoveries from his international bestseller Happy to help you lead your happiest life.\nLife is hard, messy and complex. But if we can learn to separate what we can control - our thoughts and actions - from all else beyond our control, we can find a surer footing with which to greet the world and experience our own concept of happiness.\n- None of this is real when each of us tells stories about our lives in too tidy narratives that are seldom true and rarely helpful. 
- We should be wary of goal setting: long-term goals fixate us on a future that may not happen and we may not wish for when we get there. 
- Our partner isn't right for us because no-one is. None of us is born for someone else. But perhaps those areas of frequent conflict are useful indicators of where we might ourselves be insufferable.\nA Little Happier's 17 inspiring and reassuring lessons will help you define and find your own happiness. Its lessons challenge us to think differently about the meaning of happiness and how we can over overcome anxiety in a difficult world.\nReaders are inspired by A Little Happier:\n***** 'A no nonsense guide to seeing and appreciating the world we live in.' 
***** 'A brilliant, insightful and clear book. A beautiful accompaniment to Happy.' 
***** 'This book will have a big impact on people who suffer with anxiety and depression. A must read.'

A Little Happier: Notes for reassurance

Happiness

Brown describes some of his "tricks".

Tricks of the Mind

Channel 4 Books

The inside of Derren Brown's head is a strange and mysterious place. Now you can climb inside and wander around. Find out just how Derren's mind works, see what motivates him and discover what made him the weird and wonderful person he is today. Obsessed with magic and illusions since childhood, Derren's life to date has been an extraordinary journey and here, in Confessions of a Conjuror, he allows us all to join him on a magical mystery tour - to the centre of his brain...Taking as his starting point the various stages of a conjuring trick he's performing in a crowded restaurant, Derren's endlessly engaging narrative wanders through subjects from all points of the compass, from the history of magic and the fundamentals of psychology to the joys of internet shopping and the proper use of Parmesan cheese. Brilliant, hilarious and entirely unlike anything else you have ever read before, "Confessions of a Conjuror" is also a complete and utter joy.

Confessions of a Conjuror

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Channel 4 Books, a division of Transworld Publishe

Érase una vez... Una historia alternativa de la felicidad

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Editorial Ariel

Il mentalista. I trucchi della mente dell'illusionista psicologico piàù famoso al mondo

My Life

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Books by Brown, Derren