AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS is the first book to examine the mechanisms by which mentally healthy people become happy, and how happy people become very happy. Martin E. Seligman is the international leader of the Positive Psychology Movement. His first trade book, the international bestseller LEARNED OPTIMISM, greatly influenced the way people thought about mental health by bringing the concepts of cognitive psychology to a mass audience. AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS is an even bigger ground-breaker. It represents the first time any scientist has placed value in the study not only of mental illness, but of 'mental wellness'. It's not about curing one's ills, but about exercising one's strengths and virtues in order to achieve what Seligman terms 'authentic happiness'. The life-changing lesson of AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS is that, by assessing the very best in ourselves, we can improve the world around us and achieve new and lasting levels of genuine contentment and joy.

About the Author

Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., is the Zellerbach Family Professor of Pyschology and the Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his 20 books are Learned Optimism, What You Can Change and What You Can't, The Optimisitc Child and Authentic Happiness. His books have been translated into 25 languages and he regularly tours Australia.

Reviews

In his latest user-friendly road map for human emotion, the author of the bestselling Learned Optimism proposes ratcheting the field of psychology to a new level. "Relieving the states that make life miserable... has made building the states that make life worth living less of a priority. The time has finally arrived for a science that seeks to understand positive emotion, build strength and virtue, and provide guideposts for finding what Aristotle called the `good life,' " writes Seligman. Thankfully, his lengthy homage to happiness may actually live up to the ambitious promise of its subtitle. Seligman doesn't just preach the merits of happiness e.g., happy people are healthier, more productive and contentedly married than their unhappy counterparts but he also presents brief tests and even an interactive Web site (the launch date is set for mid-August) to help readers increase the happiness quotient in their own lives. Trying to fix weaknesses won't help, he says; rather, incorporating strengths such as humor, originality and generosity into everyday interactions with people is a better way to achieve happiness. Skeptics will wonder whether it's possible to learn happiness from a book. Their point may be valid, but Seligman certainly provides the attitude adjustment and practical tools (including self-tests and exercises) for charting the course. Agent, Richard Pine. (Sept. 4) Forecast: A first serial in Newsweek, an appearance on Good Morning America and an author tour not to mention Seligman's name recognition as a longtime proponent of positive psychology should help the publisher sell out its first printing of 125,000 copies. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.