What’s going on? If anyone can put a name to our current malaiseand help fix it, it’s Mark Manson. In 2016, Manson published,a book that brilliantly gave shape to the ever-present, low-level hum ofanxiety that permeates modern living. He showed us that technology had made ittoo easy to care about the wrong things, that our culture had convinced us thatthe world owed us something when it didn’t—and worst of all, that our modernand maddening urge to always find happiness only served to make us unhappier.Instead, the “subtle art” of that title turned out to be a bold challenge: tochoose your struggle; to narrow and focus and find the pain you want tosustain. The result was a book that became an international phenomenon, sellingmillions of copies worldwide while becoming the #1 bestseller in 13 differentcountries.

Now, in, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws withineach individual self to the endless calamities taking place in the world aroundus. Drawing from the pool of psychological research on these topics, as well asthe timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits, hedissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come toresemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainmentand the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive.He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom—and even of hopeitself.

With his usual mix of erudition andwhere-the-f*ck-did-that-come-from humor, Manson takes us by the collar andchallenges us to be more honest with ourselves and connected with the world inways we probably haven’t considered before. It’s another counterintuitive rompthrough the pain in our hearts and the stress of our soul. One of the greatmodern writers has produced another book that will set the agenda for years tocome.