“Life Is Hard is a humane consolation for challenging times.
Instead, he asks how we can weather life’s adversities, finding hope and living well when Life is hard..
Countering pop psychologists and online influencers who admonish us to “find our bliss” and “live our best lives,” Setiya acknowledges that the best is often out of reach.
It offers guidance for coping with pain and making new friends, for grieving the lost and failing with grace, for confronting injustice and searching for meaning in life.
Drawing on ancient and modern philosophy as well as fiction, history, memoir, film, comedy, social science, and stories from Setiya’s own experience, Life Is Hard is a book for this moment—a work of solace and compassion.
Warm, accessible, and good-humored, this book is about making the best of a bad lot.
In this profound and personal book, Setiya shows how the tools of philosophy can help us find our way.
He offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world.
But Kieran Setiya believes philosophy can help.
Reading it is like speaking with a thoughtful friend who never tells you to cheer up, but, by offering gentle companionship and a change of perspective, makes you feel better anyway.” —The New York Times Book ReviewThere is no cure for the human condition: Life is hard. “Life Is Hard is a humane consolation for challenging times
