Life Is Hard

In LIFE IS HARD, Kieran Setiya shows us the gift that philosophy becomes when it removes its mask of impersonality to reveal its human face. His insights are stunning, his compassion sustaining. Anyone susceptible to life's hardships must read this book -- which means that everyone must read it.

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of PLATO AT THE GOOGLEPLEX

An eloquent, moving, witty and above all useful demonstration of philosophy's power to help us weather the storms of being human - not with rarefied theories about the best way to live, but by making the best of life as it really is. Kieran Setiya is both an unusually gifted writer and as imperfect a human being as the rest of us, which is to say the perfect companion for the journey.

Oliver Burkeman, author of FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS

An elegant book - wise and surprisingly moving. Readers like myself will undoubtedly end up questioning and rethinking how they live their lives.

David Edmonds, author of THE MURDER OF PROFESSOR SCHLICK

Kieran Setiya has produced the ultimate handbook of hardship. With nimble prose and crisp arguments, he shows why adversity is inevitable - and why facing up to that reality, rather than insisting on simple-minded notions of happiness, offers the only path to living well. Life Is Hard is a courageous - and ultimately hopeful - book.

Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of THE POWER OF REGRET, WHEN, and DRIVE

This is the most important type of book, the kind that sits on a bedside table through the long, dark nights of the soul. Life is Hard served as a very clear, very important reminder: being a philosopher entails a simple obligation, the responsibility to help."

John Kaag, author of SICK SOULS, HEALTHY MINDS: HOW WILLIAM JAMES CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

Smart, richly sourced, and lucidly reasoned, Life Is Hard is a work of resplendent wisdom and humanity - one that has changed the way I think about the periodic upsurges of failure, grief, and loss in my own life.

Jim Holt, author of WHY DOES THE WORLD EXIST?

Kieran Setiya is that rare bird, a philosopher of exceptional ability with the courage to face the deepest questions. His profound and far-reaching reflection on chronic pain and the other darknesses of life is a must-read.

Zena Hitz, author of LOST IN THOUGHT

Kieran Setiya helps us make sense of our experience in this turbulent, disturbing age. Taking on even existential threats with wisdom and compassion, Life is Hard ends with the inspiring promise that fighting for climate justice could give our lives meaning.

Genevieve Guenther, founding director of End Climate Silence

Life may be hard, but Kieran Setiya shows us better ways to think about it and how, despite everything, that can give us hope.

Katherine May, author of WINTERING

Through carefully crafted examples, [Kieran Setiya] makes the case that philosophy can help us navigate the adversities of human life ... No life worth living is free of suffering and pain. Better to face it with the clarity to which philosophy, at its best, aspires

Guardian

Attentive readers of this humane, intelligent book will come away with a firmer grasp and better descriptions of whatever it is that ails them or those they cherish

Economist

Kieran Setiya argues that certain bracing challenges-loneliness, failure, ill health, grief, and so on-are essentially unavoidable ... But it's good, the book shows, to acknowledge hard experiences and ask how they've helped us grow tougher, kinder, and wiser

Joshua Rothman, New Yorker

Reflects what philosophy at its most helpful and humane can do ... insightful and empathetic

LA Review of Books

Life Is Hard is a humane consolation for challenging times. Reading it is like speaking with a thoughtful friend who never tells you to cheer up, but, by offering gentle companionship and a change of perspective, makes you feel better anyway.

The New York Times Book Review

At last a philosopher tackles the meaning of life and comes up with useful answers

James McConnachie, The Sunday Times

With chapters on infirmity, loneliness, grief, failure, injustice, the absurd, and hope, Kieran demonstrates how it is the process of philosophical contemplation, not just the content of it, that can help us navigate adversity.

Philosophy Break

The truth is that life's not fair... but philosophy could help you find a way to cope

Daily Mail

Setiya is a tonic in an increasingly individualistic world.

Prospect

I adore this book. Setiya is a deeply astute and generous guide where we need one most: in navigating the unruliness of real life. He has become a clear and consoling modern voice, for which I'm enormously grateful

Derren Brown

Exceptionally rich and subtle

Jonathan Derbyshire, Financial Times

While there is no skimping on academic rigour, he makes existential inquiry relatable - offering gentle advice on how one might approach such experiences as grief and failure.

Irish Times

Illuminating

Times Literary Supplement

A rich and rewarding read, reckoning with everything from personal failure to the meaning of life

New Humanist