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The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World | 
 enlarge | Author: Eric Weiner
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $13.45
You Save: $12.54 (48%)
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Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 3200
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0446580260
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
EAN: 9780446580267
ASIN: 0446580260
Publication Date: January 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: A20080703095637W
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Product Description
Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions. (2007)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 Open minded, informative, refreshing and humorous. June 29, 2008
As I write this I have not finished the book (I am savoring it a few pages a day with all the other books I am reading at once) but it is such a pleasing experience I want to recommend the book and its author. I have the Kindle edition and technically it is well done; no text problems etc.
I love my Kindle ; it is not a swindle.
 OK June 19, 2008
For me the book was good enough.Moldova was unfortunately what it sais it is...and yes Omar is 100% correct.I have not visited England but looking at their Queen I would say those people have big reasons to be unhappy..I would! Unfortunately I think the book was superficial, many times the autor could not connect with the roots of countries he was in...it is like eating a burger, fast food, fast info...
... use this book justfor snaks.The real food is in fact "beying there"
A blissful book June 17, 2008
"The Geography of Bliss" was a pleasure to read. Weiner combines armchair travel with wry humor that often had me laughing out loud. It was a fun and painless way to "visit" some exotic places on earth that I would never dream of visiting. Evidently, we humans can adjust and be happy in a variety of climates and cultures. In the words of my favorite character, Luba from Moldova, I rate this book much higher than her typical "feevty-feevty."
Excellent read June 16, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. As some have commented, it is both very funny and very thought-provoking at the same time. In fact there are so many theories on what does and does not create happiness throughout the book that my head began to spin after awhile. While many people have naturally compared him to Bill Bryson (usually favorably, sometimes not), I was reminded more of (1) Elizabeth Gilbert's great book "Eat, Love, Pray" (since Bryson's writing tends to be heavier on the descriptive and lighter on the contemplative), as well as (2) A.J. Jacobs, who--though not a travel writer--still has a similar humorous writing style as Weiner.
Three things surprised me about his choice of countries. First they are all north of the equator. No South America, no countries in Africa, etc. Second, I'm surprised he didn't pick one or two sunny vacation-type spots, like in the Caribbean or something similar. This is not so much because people there necessarily WOULD be happier in those places, but perhaps we imagine that they would be and he could have told us what the reality is, or seems to be. Finally, I've always heard that Australians are quite happy and I would have been interested in read his take on that. Maybe Australia is just too big for him to take on.
Anyway, I really recommend the book.
Bliss is not nailed down but the effort is entertaining June 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
On page 322 the author gets as close to defining happiness as is possible for him: "Money matters, but less than we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude." This result of Eric Weiner's research is supported by many amusing and instructive international happiness stories (with statistics woven in). This "supporting data" is what makes the book go.
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