Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe

by Andrew Boyd

Overview

A dark, twisted, existential manifesto posing as a book of daily inspiration.

Revolutionizing the best-selling genre, this thinking man's parody hijacks the format of daily affirmations but offers a different message: only in paradox, truth; only in darkness, light; only in affliction, affirmation. These "daily afflictions" offer readers inspiration, practical advice, and food for thought, as they navigate the jungle of existential terror that begins anew each day. We follow the fictional Brother Void on a spiritual journey, both profound and hilarious, into self, family, love, career, death—and, ultimately, Enlightenment. We learn to "listen to our inner critic," appreciate "the nurturing power of dysfunctional families," "love the wrong person," "succeed at failure," "embrace our inner corpse," and, finally, withstand the "agony of being connected to everything in the Universe." Part spiritual autobiography, part ironic meditation, this tragicomic guide to life's sublime predicaments will elevate and educate the spirit. The truth will set you free, Brother Void reminds us, but first it will hurt like hell.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393322811
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/17/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	146
Sales rank:	806,583
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Andrew Boyd is a writer and activist living in New York. He is the author of Life's Little Deconstruction Book: Self-Help for the Post-Hip

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xv
	Author Note	xix
	The Book of Daily Afflictions
	Life
	The interstate of life	5
	Living a worthless life	6
	Being there then	7
	The supermarket of life	8
	Living as a work of art	9
	Keeping to the dark path	10
	Self
	Deepening the crisis	13
	Listening to your inner critic	14
	Selfless selfishness	16
	The nausea of language--a guided exercise	17
	The uses of obsession	19
	Opening up to your inner psychopath	20
	Finding sorrow	22
	The suburb within	23
	Family
	Embracing the life forced upon you	27
	The nurturing power of dysfunctional families	28
	The boot camp of life	29
	Living the unlived life	31
	The healing power of sick parents	33
	Love
	The other side of love	37
	Passion and companionship	38
	Loving the wrong person	39
	Fucked by love	40
	Seeing things through to total catastrophe	41
	Breaking up with yourself	42
	Career
	Failing at what matters	47
	Doing the wrong thing	48
	In pursuit of failure	49
	The havoc of Saturn's return	50
	Succeeding at failure	52
	The tragedy of commitment	53
	Politics
	Visualizing the worst possible world--a guided meditation	57
	The inner bigot	58
	Compassionate hypocrisy	60
	Being in it for yourself	61
	Hopelessness can change the world	62
	Philosophy
	The perils of creating your own reality	65
	Faith and irony	66
	One step from oblivion	68
	Everything happens for a reason	70
	Religion
	Consulting the silence--a guided exercise	73
	The economics of spirituality	74
	Reasoning with your inner prophet	75
	Skeptical mysticism	76
	Diving into the abyss	78
	Death
	Embracing your inner corpse	81
	Learning to die	82
	At One with your inner corpse--a guided meditation	84
	Living with death	85
	Enlightenment
	The agony of being connected to everything in the Universe	89
	Glossary	91
	Guide to Sources	95
	Acknowledgments	103
	Index	107

Editorial Reviews

Self-help satirist Andrew Boyd (Life's Little Deconstruction Book) manages to turn the affirmations genre on its head and still offer some inspirational wisdom in Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe, a collection of brief meditations that urges readers to embrace sorrow and pain as the way to personal growth. Under tongue-in-cheeck headings like "Living a Worthless Life," "Keeping to the Dark Path," and "The Trajedy of Commitment," Boyd emphasizes that failure in work and love is a necessary part of conscious life, and that a person can recognize the darkness and futility of life yet still dive into it headlong. ( Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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