The Antidote
Exploring the dark side of the theories put forth by such icons as Norman Vincent Peale and Eckhart Tolle by looking to both ancient philosophy and current business theory, Burkeman--a feature writer for British newspaper The Guardian--offers up the counterintuitive idea that only by embracing and examining failure and loss and unhappiness will we become free of it.
Where The Antidote keeps showing up
Two of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Also by Oliver Burkeman
What you might want to know about The Antidote
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
British journalist Oliver Burkeman travels to Stoic philosophers, Buddhist meditators, and a Mexican Day of the Dead, arguing that the cult of positive thinking is making us miserable, and that another way works better.
Reading The Antidote first builds context, but Four Thousand Weeks (2021) stands on its own. The two books form an arc on Oliver Burkeman's anti-positivity philosophy and acceptance-oriented life advice.
The Antidote was written by Oliver Burkeman, published in 2012 by Picador.
The Antidote is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Antidote takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
The Antidote is a standalone novel by Oliver Burkeman, not part of a series.
The Antidote is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
