Overview
Now a major motion picture starring Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Toni Collette, and Christopher PlummerThe international bestseller with more than two million copies sold
"Once upon a time there was a young psychiatrist called Hector who was not very satisfied with himself. . . . And so he decided to take a trip around the world, and everywhere he went he would try to understand what made people happy or unhappy." Hector travels from Paris to China to Africa to the United States, and along the way he keeps a list of observations about the people he meets. Combining the winsome appeal of The Little Prince with the inspiring philosophy of The Alchemist, Hector's journey around the world and into the human soul is entertaining, empowering, and smile-inducing--as winning in its optimism as it is wise in its simplicity.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780143118398
- ISBN-10: 0143118390
- Publisher: Penguin Books
- Publish Date: August 2010
- Dimensions: 7.12 x 5.32 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.31 pounds
- Page Count: 192
- Reading Level: Ages 18-UP
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Happiness hides in plain sight
In François Lelord’s utterly charming Hector and the Search for Happiness, a psychiatrist wants to know what makes people happy. He visits friends and keeps a list of observations—comparing your toys with a friend’s toys can make you unhappy, sun and sand can make anyone happy, happiness is caring for the people you love. Wealth and status seem to hurt some of the psychiatrist’s friends; for example, a businessman works 80 hours a week and becomes dependent on alcohol. Other characters have a gift for happiness: The psychiatrist encounters laughing, impoverished people at a picnic and wonders how they can overlook their own suffering and experience pleasure. Most notably, a very ill friend of the psychiatrist is able to forget that she is dying, enjoy her final days and inspire the people around her.
Hector and the Search for Happiness turns psychological research into a fast-paced, enchanting story. Lelord himself is a psychiatrist, and his interest in the human mind is infectious. He writes as if he were telling a bedtime story—calmly, authoritatively. His story makes you ask: Am I happy? How could I change to make myself happier?
Already an international hit, Hector and the Search for Happiness will be turned into a feature film in 2011. Fans of Eat, Pray, Love and The Elegance of the Hedgehog won’t want to miss this gem of a book.
Happiness hides in plain sight
In François Lelord’s utterly charming Hector and the Search for Happiness, a psychiatrist wants to know what makes people happy. He visits friends and keeps a list of observations—comparing your toys with a friend’s toys can make you unhappy, sun and sand can make anyone happy, happiness is caring for the people you love. Wealth and status seem to hurt some of the psychiatrist’s friends; for example, a businessman works 80 hours a week and becomes dependent on alcohol. Other characters have a gift for happiness: The psychiatrist encounters laughing, impoverished people at a picnic and wonders how they can overlook their own suffering and experience pleasure. Most notably, a very ill friend of the psychiatrist is able to forget that she is dying, enjoy her final days and inspire the people around her.
Hector and the Search for Happiness turns psychological research into a fast-paced, enchanting story. Lelord himself is a psychiatrist, and his interest in the human mind is infectious. He writes as if he were telling a bedtime story—calmly, authoritatively. His story makes you ask: Am I happy? How could I change to make myself happier?
Already an international hit, Hector and the Search for Happiness will be turned into a feature film in 2011. Fans of Eat, Pray, Love and The Elegance of the Hedgehog won’t want to miss this gem of a book.