How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division

The Booker Prize-shortlisted author on how staying optimistic can make our world better

The must-read, pocket-sized Big Think book of 2020 It feels like the world is falling apart. So how do we keep hold of our optimism? How do we nurture the parts of ourselves that hope, trust and believe in something better? And how can we stay sane in this world of division? In this beautifully written and illuminating polemic, Booker Prize nominee Elif Shafak reflects on our age of pessimism, when emotions guide and misguide our politics, and misinformation and fear are the norm. A tender, uplifting plea for optimism, Shafak draws on her own memories and delves into the power of stories to reveal how writing can nurture democracy, tolerance and progress. And in the process, she answers one of the most urgent questions of our time.

Préface
The Booker Prize-shortlisted author on how staying optimistic can make our world better

Auteur
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and storyteller. She has published 20 books, and her work has been translated into 57 languages; her novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021. A Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature, Shafak holds a PhD in political science, and has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK. In 2020 Shafak was awarded the Halldór Laxness International Literature Prize for her contribution to 'the renewal of the art of storytelling', and in 2021 she was chosen among the BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women.

Texte du rabat

'A handbook for the modern world' i Paper

'Elegant ... calm and generous' Mary Beard, Guardian

The must-read, pocket-sized Big Think book of 2020

One of the Guardian's 'Best Books to Inspire Compassion'
One of Independent's Books of the Month
A Cosmopolitan 'Revolutionary Read'

Ours is the age of contagious anxiety. We feel overwhelmed by the events around us, by injustice, by suffering, by an endless feeling of crisis. So, how can we nurture the parts of ourselves that hope, trust and believe in something better? And how can we stay sane in this age of division?

In this powerful, uplifting plea for conscious optimism, Booker Prize-nominated novelist and activist Elif Shafak draws on her own memories and delves into the power of stories to bring us together. In the process, she reveals how listening to each other can nurture democracy, empathy and our faith in a kinder and wiser future.

Résumé
The Booker Prize-shortlisted author on how staying optimistic can make our world better.