10% Happier – Book Review

Before I picked up this book, I’d never heard of Dan Harris, so I didn’t realize he was a big deal.  He anchors for Nightline, and is a correspondent for ABC News,  and a co-anchor on Good Morning America.  He’s reported for 20/20 and has interviewed all sorts of famous people like Paris Hilton, Ted Haggard, and Eckhart Tolle. (Who knew? I don’t completely live under a rock, I just haven’t turned on my TV in 4 years because of complications.)Now with his first book, 10% Happier, Harris is a best-selling author.  Juxtaposing self-help and memoir genres, Harris chronicles his career and coping mechanisms (from drug-use to meditation) in the highly competitive world of TV news. He does so in a beautifully authentic, warts-and-all sort of way.

It’s hard to say what I loved most about the book.  Harris has an excellent command of English, and knows how to weave a story that is funny, smart, and moving.  I enjoyed the “behind the scenes” stories about coworkers Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer and well as his skeptical views on various religious leaders he has met and interviewed. I smiled at the thought of the ambitious TV reporter and skeptic who found in meditation a practice that works as a way to live more happily and comfortably in his own skin. I appreciate that he’s extolling the benefits of meditating. There is so much good here.

If you too have jumped on the positive psychology bandwagon, this is a fun and informative book to take along on the ride. If you’ve already read it  you might also enjoy:

The Happiness Project

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life

An Open Heart

The Power of Now

The Lost Art of Compassion