Because I like swearing and I don’t like much self-help speak, with its superficial soundbites and its emphasis on Success! and Productivity! and Making Money Doing What you Love!, I am drawn to books/theories/manifestos that challenge, resist, trouble and/or make fun of self-help. I’m archiving them here as I encounter them.
Self-help Guides
- The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight. (First encountered here: How to declutter your life by not giving a fuck)
- Be the Worst You Can Be: Life’s Too Long for Patience and Virtue by Charles Saatchi
The Virtue of Swearing
- Why Swearing is Fucking Important
- I Love the “F” Word
- Why I Have a Potty Mouth
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck
Besides Happiness and Doing What You Love
There’s no interest in fulfillment in our culture. We’re the people’s republic of “spring break.” We’re supposed to be having this constant, drunken great time, you know. This idea of living a fulfilled life, a creative life…to make stuff. Everything you make, you don’t have to share with others. Just be creative. I recently got interviewed and someone said to me, they said, ‘You know you make a movie every year. Which filmmakers are you competing with?’ And I said, ‘I’m not competing with any filmmakers. I’m competing with the Grim Fucking Reaper. I finally figured out what I want to do and I got to get them out of me.’
- Do What You Love and Other Lies About Success and Happiness and In the Name of Love by Miya Tokumitsu