Review: F**k It

F**k It
by John C. Parkin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

F**k It / 978-1-401-92759-2

I really like the philosophy behind this book - the idea contained herein is that we need to stop stressing so much over everything ("Am I good enough? Holy enough? Peaceful enough? Loving enough? A good enough spouse, child, parent, employee, person, citizen?") and just say "f--- it" to things that we can't control (and even quite a few things that we can) and learn to relax a little. It's the Total Perspective Vortex of books - you're not important, and you never will be important (not on a universal scale, at any rate), so you might as well live the best life you can and not stress over the details. And while all that philosophy CAN be explained in just those few sentences (or even just in the title!), there's a lot more here to delve into, in terms of HOW to actually live that philosophy and be happy.

It's a philosophy I can get behind; a philosophy that I would *love* to see spread and adapted and adopted all over the world. So this book gets an A+ from me on the philosophy angle, hands down.

Having said that, I feel like readers should be warned that the writing here could use the touch of a good editor. The book is written in a very stream-of-consciousness style, almost a mad dash of "hey-I-just-figured-out-this-whole-secret-to-happiness" writing that leaps all over the place. The chapters provide some loose organization, but overall the writing just isn't very tight - even though it is deep, clever, and amusing at times. I almost can't help but feel that this writing style was a conscious decision - even the foreword lampshades the fact that a true "f--- it" philosophy follower can best express their dedication to the philosophy by churning out a slap-dash foreword! (Quite amusing actually.) So I almost feel churlish pointing it out at all, except that I'm concerned that some readers may be put off slightly by the looseness of the writing, no matter how much I might agree with the fundamental philosophy contained herein. I suspect, though, that this will be a personal preference that depends on the reader.

I do most definitely recommend this book if you don't mind a bit of tongue-in-cheek consciousness streaming mixed in with your philosophy.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

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