Secrets of the Superoptimist

By W.R. Morton and Nathaniel Whitten

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977480704
• ISBN13: 9780977480708
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Vitally Important
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 3.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

A hilarious, thought-provoking hybrid

This book will inevitably be categorized as "humor," and humorous it certainly is, with its spot-on and very funny parodic takes on idiotic self-help tomes. The amazing part is that it actually has more to say about life choices than most "serious" books in the same area. Morton and Whitten have clearly done their homework by slogging through the usual bromides, cliches, and platitudes. They have been there, read this, been nauseated by that, and had it up to here, but luckily haven't lost their sense of comedic absurdity in the process. And we are the beneficiaries. Their disillusion is our gain. All we need to do now is listen a little, learn a little more, and laugh a whole lot.

My coffee is cold... but I still have some left!

Very smart book about how to turn absolutely any negative into a positive. Great tongue-in-cheek writing that reminded me of the Colbert Report. Especially love the exercises at the end, like the tips for dealing with the death of a loved one that include chanting "I am not a wizard", and the memory exercises that help you remember your sexual experiences by having you write a very complimentary and detailed letter from your lover to yourself. Clever and funny, but with an air of real intelligence and truth, and damned if it won't actually make you think about things a little differently.

So is this humor, or is it for real?

First time I picked up this little book I thought it was a joke. I thought that because of the cover - a human fireball falling through the air. I read it, because I thought it would be a funny parody of all the stupidity you find in self-help books. Turns out I was right! And wrong. It's a very funny parody, but it also happens to have a fully fleshed-out philosophy that has elements of Buddhism, Existentialism and plain old Daily Show irreverence. Smart stuff. The book's structured as a series of "Secrets" handed down to the author from a divine being. They have names like "#14 Own and Wear a Sarong" and "#108 Never Be Photographed While Eating". It's sort of like Tony Robbins meets Jon Stewart - and if you're at all intrigued to see what that would look like, open this book.

Super SuperOptimist

What kinds of minds could possibly have created this book? Brilliant minds, I should say. The book is clever, informative, sensible, witty, and downright laugh-out-loud funny. Whitten and Morton should go to the head of the class and take a well-deserved bow. And Jon Stewart would be doing himself a big favor by buying the book, and immediately hiring Morton and Whitten as writers for his TV show. David Letterman would be well-served to follow suit. Kudos to the authors for looking at the positive side of life and writing about it so well, and in such an entertaining manner. Why isn't this book on The New York Times best-seller list, and why haven't Oprah and her best friend Gayle included "The SuperOptimist" as a "book club" selection? Readers: Boggle your mind and get this book!