My friend Claire chanced by this at the bookstore. With a title like this, it would be hard not to notice. And it’s on sale! She bought the book :)
“I figured that if someone could take the trouble to write about assholes, then maybe I should spare some time to read about it..”
Contrary to the initial thought that this would be another attention-seeking satirical title whining about everything under the sun, the author takes a philosophical approach to analyze why a person acts as such, introducing concepts to help us better understand such behavior and think constructively about how to handle theses morons. It’s interesting that the author says most of the assholes are likely to be men, considering he is a male himself. I am now more inclined to believe what he says :)
The main takeaway of this book is for the reader to get a better sense of when an asshole is best resisted, and when he is best ignored. In other words, evaluate if the battle is even worth fighting for. Afterall, the only person feeling miserable may be you, while the asshole gloats about achieving his agenda and goes about gallivanting and making a nuisance of himself. Over the years, I have learnt to let go of a lot of unwanted anger & frustration, and age (not that I am THAT old) has taught me that sometimes, it’s not about winning or being right…it’s about taking an objective view of the situation on hand and ascertaining if the person is even worth your time, or if he/she matters enough for you to let it slide.
In life, it’s not so much about being right, but more about the importance of that relationship that you want to keep, and your peace of mind. I always evaluate with the peace in my heart.
I’m pretty intrigued to read the book (I should ask Claire what she thought of it). We can now know all about assholes for only US$14.60 via Amazon.com, and guess what – you can also find out all about Bullshit and Truth as a bundle package! :D What an interesting world we live in…:)
Image: Amazon.com
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