The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin’ Sad by Adam Gnade
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The thing I liked most about this book is that it felt like it was coming from a place of understanding, but that expression was spread throughout the book as opposed to being a big, fat chapter upfront. That’s a thing I see in lots of self-help books. The writer has to spend a lot of calories convincing me that they’re the right person for me to listen to. This book convinces me, but not all up top. Which is cool.
It’s also a really short book. Which is good. I get the advice, get in, get out. There is no filler, that’s for sure.
My favorite section was about doing artsy stuff and still having a job. How a lot of stuff says you should quit your job and do what makes you happy. So you quit your job, and you know what makes you happy (writing too-long, too-personal book reviews, for example), but what now? How do you continue to have enough cash to live and still do what you want? Because it’s not that easy. You could dumpster dive and maybe live off the land, as it were. But that’s not for everybody.
Best part:
“Working a shit job won’t crush your soul if it’s a means to an end and you already know what that end is.”
That’s great advice. Not only is it necessary to work a job you don’t like sometimes, but it can be okay. You can feel okay about it if you re-frame why you work that job. If it’s not because you love it and you want to do it forever, but because it supports you while you do the things you really want to do on the side.
This book is a strange combination of practical and radical, and I’m glad I picked it up. Thanks, Adam.