The totally unscientific study of the search for human happiness

Title:

Author:

Summary:

Is there a secret to happiness? Beloved comedian and popular panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Paula Poundstone offers herself up as a human guinea pig in a series of thoroughly unscientific experiments to find out. Armed with her unique brand of self-deprecating wit and the scientific method, Paula tries a different get-happy hypothesis in each chapter. She gets in shape with Taekwondo. She drives fast behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. Swing dancing? Meditation? Voluntering? Does any of it bring her happiness? And more important, can the happiness last when she returns to the daily demands of her chaotic life as a working mother with three kids? The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness is a wildly amusing story of jumping into new experiences with both feet first.-- From back cover.

Edition:

First paperback edition.

Physical Description:

304 pages ; 21 cm.

Genre:

Humor.

Personal Subject:

Poundstone, Paula.

Subject Term:

Comedians -- Biography.

Happiness -- Humor.

American wit and humor.

Publisher:

Algonquin Books,

Publication Date:

2018

2017

ISBN:

9781616208066

Publication Information:

Chapel Hill : Algonquin Books, 2018.

Call Number:

792.7 POUNDST

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003408583	Adult Nonfiction	792.7 POUNDST	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"A remarkable journey. I laughed. I cried. I got another cat." --Lily Tomlin

"Paula Poundstone is the funniest human being I have ever known." --Peter Sagal, host of Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! and author of The Book of Vice

"Is there a secret to happiness?" asks comedian Paula Poundstone. "I don't know how or why anyone would keep it a secret. It seems rather cruel, really . . . Where could it be? Is it deceptively simple? Does it melt at a certain temperature? Can you buy it? Must you suffer for it before or after?" In her wildly and wisely observed book, the comedy legend takes on that most inalienable of rights--the pursuit of happiness.

Offering herself up as a human guinea pig in a series of thoroughly unscientific experiments, Poundstone tries out a different get-happy hypothesis in each chapter of her data-driven search. She gets in shape with taekwondo. She drives fast behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. She communes with nature while camping with her daughter, and commits to getting her house organized (twice!). Swing dancing? Meditation? Volunteering? Does any of it bring her happiness? You may be laughing too hard to care.

The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness is both a story of jumping into new experiences with both feet and a surprisingly poignant tale of a single working mother of three children (not to mention dozens of cats, a dog, a bearded dragon lizard, a lop-eared bunny, and one ant left from her ant farm) who is just trying to keep smiling while living a busy life.

The queen of the skepticism-fueled rant, Paula Poundstone stands alone in her talent for bursting bubbles and slaying sacred cows.

Like George Carlin, Steve Martin, and David Sedaris, she is a master of her craft, and her comedic brilliance is served up in abundance in this book. As author and humorist Roy Blount Jr. notes, "Paula Poundstone deserves to be happy. Nobody deserves to be this funny."

Author Notes

Paula Poundstone is a popular panelist on NPR's weekly comedy quiz program Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! . She tours regularly, performing standup throughout the country. Poundstone was the first woman ever to share the stage with the President as host at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. She has had numerous HBO specials, starred in her own series on HBO and ABC, is included in Comedy Central's list of Top 100 Comics of All Time, and has won an American Comedy Award. The National Spokesperson for the ALA's United for Libraries Volunteer Network, she is also the author of There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say .

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

One of veteran comedian Poundstone's highest-profile recurring gigs involves panelist duties on National Public Radio's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! game show, and the accomplished funnywoman draws quite effectively on her natural ease in front of a microphone, bringing the droll quality of her stand-up comedy to the audio medium. The narrative centers on her quest to find the elusive experience of bliss through various experiments, ranging from the altruism of donating plasma and volunteering in a nursing home to the hedonism of renting a sports car or watching movies at home with her three kids for 24 hours in a row. Poundstone's turn imitating the teenage angst of her technology-addicted son leaves a particularly memorable impression. An Algonquin hardcover. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Comedian Poundstone pursues the secrets of happiness with a series of over-the-top unscientific studies. Whether it's learning to dance, getting in shape, getting closer to nature, or binge-watching movies, Poundstone dedicates herself to trying anything that promises happiness and recording the results. Peppered with hilarious asides, family squabbles, failures, cat litter, and hands-on research, this will find listeners laughing along with the absurdity and hilariousness of the author's search for human contentment. Expertly narrated by the comedian, it comes across like good stand-up comedy and will garner Poundstone even more fans. VERDICT For fans of comedic memoirs and zany scientific endeavors.-Erin Cataldi, -Johnson Cty. P.L., Franklin, IN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Introduction	p. 1
The Get Fit Experiment	p. 4
The Get Wired Experiment	p. 36
The Get Earthy Experiment	p. 68
The Get Organized Experiment: Part 1	p. 88
The Get Reel Experiment	p. 115
The Get Organized Experiment: Part 2	p. 139
The Get Rolling Experiment	p. 155
The Get Up and Dance Experiment	p. 176
The Get Warm and Fuzzy Experiment	p. 205
The Get Purring Experiment	p. 219
The Get Positive Experiment	p. 234
The Get Over Here and Help Experiment	p. 242
The Get Quiet Experiment	p. 268
Final Report on the Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness	p. 285
Acknowledgments	p. 289
Oh, and One More Thing: A Progress Report, with Ping-Pong	p. 291

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents