![]() The pursuit of happiness has become the pursuit of diversion in the midst of prosperity. According to Percy, most of our lives these days are diversions that become progressively more disappointing. According to Pascal, most of our lives are diversions, escapes from what we really know, evidence of our misery without God. ![]() Diversions, of course, get your mind off yourself, relieve your stress, help out in alleviating your fears, your anxieties, your boredom. ![]() And it did.įrom Percy’s view, our bookstores are mostly filled with two kinds of books-self-help books and diverting or entertaining books about scandal-ridden law firms or extraterrestrials or vampires or a bunch of sexually obsessive shades of grey. Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos is subtitled “The Last Self-Help Book.” He said he gave the book that title so that it would end up in the self-help section of bookstores. Several posts will be required to lay out even the basics about being lost in the cosmos. It was published in 1983, and I’m one of the very few Americans celebrating the book’s 30th anniversary. Here’s my recommendation: Lost in the Cosmos by the philosopher-physician-novelist Walker Percy. So lots of readers (about six) have written me asking for advice on what book they should read to turn their lives around. ![]()
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