The Optimist
One Man's Search for the Brighter Side of Life
Published on 22. January 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-84767-061-8 (ISBN)
Description
Collapsing stock markets, melting ice caps, floods, tornadoes, terrorism . . .When it comes to bad news, we've never had it so good.
Perhaps it is time to be a little more optimistic? That's what Laurence Shorter decided. And that's why he set himself the challenge of meeting the world's most cheerful people. Surely with the help of Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Bill Clinton, Laurence can find the secret to inner happiness.
But first things first - how on Earth is he going to get to meet them?
Perhaps it is time to be a little more optimistic? That's what Laurence Shorter decided. And that's why he set himself the challenge of meeting the world's most cheerful people. Surely with the help of Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Bill Clinton, Laurence can find the secret to inner happiness.
But first things first - how on Earth is he going to get to meet them?
Reviews / Votes
A delightfully quirky journey of self-discovery that will make your spirits soar, and possibly lead you to enlightenment. Possibly. * * Mick Brown * * Shorter is a witty writer . . . The Optimist won't convert confirmed pessimists but it is engaging enough to make you question negative habits - and perhaps restore a little faith in humanity's future. * * Financial Times * * Shorter is a snappy writer - fast, compelling, sympathetic and seemingly honest. * * Observer * * Funny and inspiring . . . a book that's a reason to be cheerful in itself. * * Waterstone's Books Quarterly * * A laugh-out-loud account of a year-long, worldwide search to find positive thinkers. -- Val Nolan * * Sunday Business Post * * Deliciously quirky and enormously funny, it brims over with the sort of joie de vivre that would brighten the darkest day. * * Good Book Guide * *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
375 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84767-061-8 (9781847670618)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Laurence Shorter worked in the business world for a decade before making the move into writing and comedy in 2001. Since then he has done a one-man show at the Edinburgh Festival, written for the BBC, Channel 4, the Independent, Observerand opendemocracy.net, and toured some of the capital's finest pubs as a comedy dancer. With his focus on the world of therapy and spiritual development he is taken seriously by a growing number of cultural commentators, including his father, his father's girlfriend and their brain-damaged cat. Laurence was born in New York and raised in Edinburgh. Today he lives in South London, though he was recently seen trying to escape on a small bicycle.