Little Victories

"The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. Four ... (more)

"The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. Four times a week, millions of men and women turn to Jason Gay's column in The Wall Street Journal. Why is Gay so celebrated? It starts with his amusing, fan's-eye-view of the sports world, which he loves but doesn't take too seriously. But his most celebrated features are his "Rules" columns, which provide untraditional, highly amusing but useful advice for navigating the minefields of everyday life. In this, his first book, Gay provides witty and wise advice on the Big Questions. Such as how to behave at work: "If you are excited about the company holiday party, this is likely an early-warning signal from the lighthouse to cancel, because you may fit the profile of the person who winds up kissing four co-workers, then stands on the coach at 2:00 a.m. railing against the company healthcare plan before passing out, then waking up twenty minutes later and demanding everyone take a taxi to Atlantic City for breakfast." Gay makes the case that it is not the grand accomplishments like climbing Mt. Everest (which, as he points out, is expensive and stressful) that make life sweet but conquering the small everyday challenges, like putting pants on before 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday. Little Victories is a life guide for people who hate life guides. Whether the subject is rules for raising the perfect child without infuriating all of your friends, rules for how to be cool (related: Why do you want to be cool?) or rules of thumb to tell the difference between real depression and just eating five cupcakes in a row, Gay's essays--whimsical, practical, and occasionally poignant--will make you laugh and then think, "You know, he's kind of right.""--Provided by publisher. (less)

"A beautiful visual exploration of the highs and lows experienced by a parent learning how to adapt to his son's autism.... (more)

"A beautiful visual exploration of the highs and lows experienced by a parent learning how to adapt to his son's autism. Faced with a challenging road ahead, the author uses creative flair and ingenuity in order to connect with his son, enabling him to reach his fullest potential and prepare him for the transition into adulthood. This stunning insight into the nature of autism and the daily struggles of a parent uses humor and compassion to convey its message. This is the perfect creative outlet for anyone - from parent to teacher - looking for detailed information on the subject with a more personal touch."--Amazon.com. (less)

"The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. Four t... (more)

"The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. Four times a week, millions of men and women turn to Jason Gay's column in The Wall Street Journal. Why is Gay so celebrated? It starts with his amusing, fan's-eye-view of the sports world, which he loves but doesn't take too seriously. But his most celebrated features are his "Rules" columns, which provide untraditional, highly amusing but useful advice for navigating the minefields of everyday life. In this, his first book, Gay provides witty and wise advice on the Big Questions. Such as how to behave at work: "If you are excited about the company holiday party, this is likely an early-warning signal from the lighthouse to cancel, because you may fit the profile of the person who winds up kissing four co-workers, then stands on the coach at 2:00 a.m. railing against the company healthcare plan before passing out, then waking up twenty minutes later and demanding everyone take a taxi to Atlantic City for breakfast." Gay makes the case that it is not the grand accomplishments like climbing Mt. Everest (which, as he points out, is expensive and stressful) that make life sweet but conquering the small everyday challenges, like putting pants on before 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday. Little Victories is a life guide for people who hate life guides. Whether the subject is rules for raising the perfect child without infuriating all of your friends, rules for how to be cool (related: Why do you want to be cool?) or rules of thumb to tell the difference between real depression and just eating five cupcakes in a row, Gay's essays--whimsical, practical, and occasionally poignant--will make you laugh and then think, "You know, he's kind of right.""-- (less)

The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. "The bo... (more)

The Wall Street Journal's popular columnist Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and heartfelt guide to modern living. "The book you hold in your is a rule book. There have been rule books beforeb7sstacks upon stacks of themb7sbut this book is unlike any other rule book you have ever read. It will not make you rich in twenty-four hours, or even seventy-two hours. It will not cause you to lose eighty pounds in a week. This book has no abdominal exercises. I have been doing abdominal exercises for most of my adult life, and my abdomen looks like it's always looked. It looks like flan. Syrupy flan. So we can just limit those expectations. This book does not offer a crash diet or a plan for maximizing your best self. I don't know a thing about your best self. It may be embarrassing. Your best self might be sprinkling peanut M&M's onto rest-stop pizza as we speak. I cannot promise that this book is a road map to success. And we should probably set aside the goal of total happiness. There's no such thing. I would, however, like for it to make you laugh. Maybe think. I believe it is possible to find, at any age, a new appreciation for what you haveb7sand what you don't haveb7sas well as for the people closest to you. There's a way to experience life that does not involve a phone, a tablet, a television screen. There's also a way to experience life that does not involve eating seafood at the airport, because you should really never eat seafood at the airport. Like the title says, I want us all to achieve little victories. I believe that happiness is derived less from a significant single accomplishment than it is from a series of successful daily maneuvers. Maybe it's the way you feel when you walk out the door after drinking six cups of coffee, or surviving a family vacation, or playing the rowdy family Thanksgiving touch football game, or just learning to embrace that music at the gym. Accomplishments do not have to be large to be meaningful. I think little victories are the most important ones in life." b7s From the Introduction From the Hardcover edition. (less)