Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
Written by Jenny Lawson
Narrated by Jenny Lawson
4/5
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About this audiobook
In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.
But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.
As Jenny says:
"Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos.
"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"
Furiously Happy is about "taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between "surviving life" and "living life". It's the difference between "taking a shower" and "teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair." It's the difference between being "sane" and being "furiously happy."
Lawson is beloved around the world for her inimitable humor and honesty, and in Furiously Happy, she is at her snort-inducing funniest. This is a book about embracing everything that makes us who we are - the beautiful and the flawed - and then using it to find joy in fantastic and outrageous ways. Because as Jenny's mom says, "Maybe 'crazy' isn't so bad after all." Sometimes crazy is just right.
Jenny Lawson
Jenny Lawson is an award-winning humorist known for her great candor in sharing her struggle with mental illness. She lives in Texas with her husband and daughter and was constantly “buying too many books” (“Not a real thing,” she insists), so she decided to skip the middleman and just started her own bookshop, which also serves booze because books and booze are what magic is made of. She has previously written Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy, both of which were #1 New York Times bestsellers. She also wrote You Are Here, which inexplicably made it onto the New York Times bestseller list in spite of the fact that it was basically a very fun coloring book. She would like to be your friend unless you’re a real asshole. And yes, she realizes that this whole paragraph is precisely the reason she shouldn’t be allowed to write her own bio.
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Reviews for Furiously Happy
1,235 ratings123 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ridiculously hilarious. Unapologetically honest. This book is fantastic and I absolutely LOVED it.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I did the audiobook version of this. Totally worth it: the author's timing (she reads her own book) is impeccable. Now I just have to read her first book. This was so what I needed and just when I needed it. Thank you, Jenny!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Furiously Happy was a hilarious and, dare I say, therapeutic book. This book is definitely for those of us suffering from any autoimmune disabilities, mental health issues, and has a dark sense of humour about it all. Of course, those readers who might want to have more insight would benefit from reading it as well. Honestly, I read this memoir knowing I’d laugh, which was my goal. I didn’t realize her more serious and genuine words/chapters would make me cry as well.
For me, the definition of a good book isn’t always based on how well it’s written, but how much it makes me feel. Whether those feelings are for a character or a situation or maybe it just depends on the plot… it’s all moot when it comes to memoirs. It’s about a connection and relating to the author on a personal level. Of course this is strange, since we don’t actually know one another. Yet, there’s something personal when you just “get it” and also feel a sense of relief that I’m not alone with some of these strange thoughts or feelings after all. Finding this in a book is magical and comforting. I’m so glad I made time to listen/read (I like both formats). I needed to laugh and cry and be reminded that life is hard, especially when given these extra burdens. I leaned to say @&$* it, I’m going to be furiously happy as much as possible despite my broken body and mind. This review is way too open, so if you’re still reading this … thanks. Maybe you can relate too. ?
I’ll definitely read her third book when I need another laugh/cry. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love Jenny. So raw and so true. I absolutely look up to this woman
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A collection of essays, lists, rambling stories, and totally random craziness. The author suffers from an overly-unique personality and has dealt her entire life with a number of emotional/behavioral/mental problems. That's right, she's a triple threat. This book is her love song to herself, and by extension, to everyone else who has ever felt different, strange, or insane. It's a book about acceptance, self-love, and a resolute determination to be happy whenever possible. It also made me snort with surprised laughter a number of times in public places. A true blessing.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Worth the read! Lots of laughs to make it easier to understand mental illness. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I really enjoyed listening to this book read by the author. I confess I abandoned 'Let's Pretend This Never Happened,' and I believe that Lawson's prose benefits by her interpretation. I laughed out loud in several spots. She can be exhausting in her ADHD fueled stories, which is the only reason I didn't give it more stars.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As always, Jenny Lawson takes you from laughing so hard your wine slushee squirts out your nose to ugly crying in sympathy and/or recognition, sometimes within a single paragraph. Brilliantly funny and brutally honest, 'Furiously Happy' is an unflinching look at what it is to be crazy in the absolutely best way. Ms. Lawson is a bright, shining beacon for any an all of us who sometimes can't see our way in the dark.
Plus, she has the best-worst taxidermy and she revels in sharing it with the world. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Read it. Listen to it. You will be furiously happy you did. You'll laugh, chortle and feel seen if you struggle too.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There is something bittersweet and wonderful in the title. I don't have any mental illness, but the title will probably resonate with anyone who had to smile through tears or mental pain. Somehow I know how furiously happy feels. The chapter explaining exactly that is one of the best in the book. The saddest too.
Since the first book didn't quite work for me when I read it, I've decided to try the audio. I rarely choose audio books because my mind tends to wander, so I'd been listening to this one for the past couple of weeks a chapter or two at a time. I am not sure if it worked because the author herself read it or something else, but it worked better than the first book.
Other than the tendency to apologize for something she has no control of, this was quite good. There are moments you want to laugh and cry at the same time. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Funny, like expected. Once again, Jenny's rendition of Victor's responses to her are my favorite part of her books. I paid a little bit more attention to how she narrates this book and it is flawless. All the pauses between certain words and the periods where she rushes through other phases, makes the listen perfect. I can't say enough that this is a book that should be listened to. And while this is a book about depression and anxiety, it's not a "self-help" book. it doesn't even give much advice for. Instead it's a place to come and feel included if you share some of what Jenny goes through. It's definitely a book that has united a community of like-minded introverts that normally wouldn't have come together. Recommended if you struggle with anxiety or depression.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I liked this book and laughed often, it is so manic that I had to take it in small doses at a time though.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this audio book!!! If you think you’re alone in your fight against mental health, please listen to this book, you’ll laugh and cry in the same time.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Can modern authors even write?
I really wanted to hear what the author had to say, but after a blistering 5 minutes of blue f-bomb profanity laced diatribe, I am forced to conclude that this author like so many other current authors can not craft a book but rather spew what comes out of a vocabulary limited mind. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not for me. Author’s humor felt a bit forced; stories a bit too embellished. For what I did listen to, it was rather light, which is nice.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Brutally honest about mental health in her life. Some episodes and thoughts were so bizarre that I felt sane in comparison. When she was serious about oir struggles, I found her most effective.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A funny book with a realistic view of living with invisible illnesses. Jenny wrote a great book about what it’s like to be one of us.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book reminds me of my thoughts. I laughed and questioned my sanity. Not sure what the topic was to be but it was entertaining for the most part.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lawson's book is one of the most insightful, funny, and thought-provoking books that I have read in a long time. Courageously speaking about her battles with mental illness (depression, ADD, etc.), Lawson uses humor and absurdity to open her readers up to the serious issues that millions of Americans face on a daily basis in fighting their own battles. From laughing uproariously at rodeo raccoons to silently pondering my own responses to my depression, this book engaged me from page one. It is no wonder that many in the media have acknowledged this book as one of the best from 2015. It should be passed along to anyone who is struggling with mental illness, as well as to anyone who needs a laugh.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Damn, girl! Thanks for not allowing your lackativity (Now you got me doing it) to block your hilarity and persistativity. (This is why you’re the professional.)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The most outrageous and funny (and yet also incredibly sad and upsetting) memoir on mental illness I've ever read.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Couldn’t even finish it. It’s an unfunny book about serious stuff. No thanks
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There was a lot of great stuff in this book. Plenty of insightful discussions about mental illness, which is something that I've struggled with most of my life - not to the degree of the author but I could relate to some aspects of what she had to say. Most of the book is Lawson telling stories and sharing stream of consciousness essays. While I definitely enjoyed her sense of humor and found some of the stories interesting, her voice and repetitive nature of the jokes made the last half or so of the book sort of painful.
I think I would have enjoyed this one much more if I had limited myself to something like 30 minute sessions. Or I could be fooling myself and would have eventually just put it in the DNF pile. I got dangerously close to putting it there anyway but I'm determined to keep my total books completed numbers as high as possible this year. I WILL MAKE MY GOAL!
If you share a twisted sense of humor and love of foul language with the author, and me, and are interested in reading the book, I suggest trying a chapter or two a day.
I went back and forth between 2.5 and 3 stars. I decided on three because I really did laugh out loud a few times and some of her stories were very good. I was just too much of the same thing over and over to make it completely enjoyable for me. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5*NOTE: This book affected me on a personal level because I could relate to it. I’ll explain why first, before the review.*
My anxiety is a fairly recent development in my life. And maybe it’s really PTSD, but I’m choosing to go with anxiety. Just about three years ago (it’ll be actually three years on February 9th), my little Prius and I were struck by a tractor trailer on I-80 in Pennsylvania in the middle of a snow storm and I wound up stuck in a ditch, snow on either side, unable to get out of my car. I have never been more terrified in my life. My car absolutely saved my life.
And, I think most people would call this understandable, I started having panic attacks whenever I found myself in a less than comfortable driving situation. Full blown, cannot breathe, cannot feel my hands, feet, or face, panic attacks. Unfortunately, and less understandable to most people, my anxiety about driving started to seep into other (and all) facets of my life. Being diagnosed with allergy induced asthma last February didn’t help matters – now when I have an asthma attack I panic about not being able to breathe, and then I get to experience an asthma attack AND panic attack simultaneously. Isn’t that fun? No, it’s not, and the paramedics who had to try to regulate my breathing will back me up on this one.
Yes, yes, you’re probably thinking: Sarah, you know tons of people in the US suffer from anxiety and depression, right? Yes, your situation is not ideal, but other’s have it far worse. Yes, you’re absolutely right. And for all those people, and me, we have Jenny Lawson. And we are extremely lucky.
While Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny’s first book I reviewed last week, definitely falls into the memoir realm, Furiously Happy, straddles the genres of memoir and self-help. She doesn’t trivialize it any of the mental health issues she experiences, and she doesn’t discount anyone else’s. She doesn’t pretend to be an expert, she simply offers shared experiences. All with wit and humor that is unparelled to anything I’ve read before. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have ADHD and Depressiosn like Jenny Lawson and I see myself in her book. The big difference is that I am only 5% snarky. The author is I have to hold my stomach while I roar loud. This book is a little more difficulat to follow but I love that she has come to many of the same conclusions that I did. If you feel really bad and want to stop your life, you have to remember that life will not stay the way that is now, it will definitely get better in the future. And you need to do things that make you happy, I read books, maybe too many but I always checked out enough books at the library when I was younger that I could bearly carry all of them. I have to have one 12 ounce diet coke every day or I will feel deprived. Jenny Lawson writes notes to herself when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Wse both have terrible insomnia. At two a.m., she thought that they were brillant when she wrote them. But she finds out later that they were not. I gave up on writing down my wonderful thoughts because I cannot figure out what I wrote later. I enjoyed her sleep study experience, I have had five of them and hated them so much that I never did aother one. I enjoyed her trip to Austraila and decided to never to go there but I might have a similiar experience. The author gives all of us the knowledge that someone else besides us has ADHD and Depression and that is the healing property of this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It took me a while to get into this — so much of it is hard going, and the moments of humor catch me off guard. I think it’s incredibly well done, and I appreciate Lawson’s bravery in sharing her struggles. She’s a really astonishing human being, and while the book often a feels no linear and confusing and weird, it also feels lovely and human and inclusive and kind. I’m glad she is in the world.
Also the raccoon on the cover is just amazing. She’s created a whole new appreciation for taxidermy in my life, and I really never ever ever thought I would say that about anything. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Probably more like 3.5 for me....I think books like this will always be tricky for me because of my own personal experience as the "Victor" in the narrative. I appreciate Jenny's outlook and her choice to use humor as the lens through which to experience her diagnoses. I found the spots where she went on her spirals to be tough to read, because they brought to mind the many times I experienced that as a caretaker, and the feelings of helplessness and anxiety they gave me. I appreciated the epilogue and found it to be personally meaningful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jenny Lawson calls herself crazy. That may be true, but it doesn't matter because she is also crazy funny. Like her last book, this one made me laugh out loud like a maniac in public more than once. And for the record, legless lizards ARE totally snakes, no matter what the herpetologists say.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent read: funny and yet very informative. It seems to really help to start to understand what people with depression and other similar ailments live through.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book by The Bloggess haunts my house. It moves from room to room like another family pet hiding from our active and loud children. It is so much fun to read but is also why i thought reading a book on speculative taxedermy was a fun idea (it wasnt). Current location is the bathroom rug.