The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things [Hardcover]

Neil Pasricha (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 15, 2010

The author behind 1000awesomethings.com celebrates the good things in life- by the sheer power of their awesomeness.

Based on the award-winning blog 1000awesomethings.com, The Book of Awesome is a high five for humanity and a big celebration of life's little moments and the underappreciated, simple things that make us happy, from popping bubble wrap to hitting a bunch of green lights in a row, to waking up thinking it's Monday and realizing it's Saturday. With wise, witty observations from writer Neil Pasricha, this treasure trove is filled with smile-inducing musings that make readers feel like kids looking at the world for the first time: AWESOME!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

The Book of Awesome presents simple pleasures for a younger, hipper generation. From the smell of gasoline to fixing electronics by smacking them to the extra time you get when the clocks roll back, The Book of Awesome reminds readers of little things that make us smile everyday.

Entries include: Old dangerous playground equipment, Wearing underwear just out of the dryer, Being the first table called up for the dinner buffet at a wedding, Watching The Price Is Right when you're home sick, When the vending machine gives you two things instead of one, The first shower you take after not showering for a really long time, When cashiers open up new checkout lanes at the grocery store, Sleeping in new bed sheets, Waiters and waitresses who bring free refills without asking, and hundreds more.

Some entries are short and others expand into wonderfully funny and astutely observant essays. As well, there are many photos from award-winning Canadian photographer Sam Javanrouh complementing the text of this "universal high five for humanity."

Awesome Stuff
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Bakery air...

High-fiving babies...

Well-timed bus arrivals...

The smell of rain...

From Publishers Weekly

In this adaptation of his blog www.1000awesomethings.com, Pasricha celebrates the simple pleasures of everyday living. Focusing on both tangible pleasures and simple experiences, Pasricha provides a contemporary take on everyday inspiration that skips the typical Chicken Soup for the Soul fare: "When you push the button for the elevator and it's already there," ("Ding!"); "When the boss goes out of town" ("Who's up for a three-hour lunch?"); "Peeling that thin plastic film off new electronics" ("Welcome to the world, remote control"). Other items get more substantial discussions, including the other side of the pillow, old playground equipment, hotel lobby bathrooms, the last day of school, and the five-second rule. Though tongue-in-cheek, Pasricha emerges a committed but inviting optimist, combating life's unending stream of bad news by identifying opportunities to "share a universal high five with humanity." Readers looking for simple, unsentimental pick-me-ups should find this happy browsing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam; First Edition edition (April 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399156518
• ISBN-13: 978-0399156519
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Self-Help & Psychology

More About the Author

Neil Pasricha works an office job in the suburbs, eats frozen burritos for dinner, and needs to go to the gym more. He's just a regular guy who loves the smell of gasoline, sleeping on the cool side of the pillow, and peeling an orange in one shot.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars He had me at "Snow Days" February 25, 2010

By Corinne H. Smith TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Daily life in the twenty-first century can be overwhelming. Issues of global warming, health care reform, a strangled economy, and the latest celebrity shenanigans fill our media outlets and our heads until they just about burst. It is all too much to bear. No wonder we seek solace in the tiny triumphs of life: in our own small successes and in the personal interactions, the soothing sights, the tempting tastes, and the sensational smells we find in the world around us.

Neil Pasricha is the author of the award-winning blog, "1000 Awesome Things." His online success translates well into the format of this book, which outlines 200 of those Awesome Things. Things like "That one really good pen that never gets lost;" "The sound of ice cubes cracking in a drink;" "Licking the batter off the beaters of a cake mixer;" "The smell and sound of a campfire;" and "That friendly nod between strangers out doing the same thing." In these pages you'll also learn the most successful strategies for trick-or-treating and for making the most of an all-you-can-eat buffet. You'll even learn exactly what functions are attached to your colon. But this is not a book of mere lists. Mr. Pasricha provides an explanation for each one, and some of those pieces are several pages in length. His observations are spot-on, and his writing style is friendly and funny. This is an entertaining and feel-good read.

I had to wait until page 342 to find my most favorite Awesome Thing: Snow days. The author breaks this phenomenon into three types: The Pre-Planned Snow Day, The High-Probability Snow Day, and The Surprise Snow Day. But Neil, there's a fourth one to consider, and that's the "We're already here. Will we get enough snow for them to send us home early?" kind.... That one may be the most frustrating of all. When the crucial announcement comes, that joyful event becomes yet another (albeit, shortened) Awesome Thing. Assuming you can make it home safely in the storm.

"The Book of Awesome" is the kind of paperback that you can scan through quickly. You can catch the headlines and say "Yes!" to particular ones. Or you can take a single lovely, rainy weekend to devour this volume from cover to cover. Keep it on your bedside table or coffee table for a pick-me-up. Read passages aloud to a living room full of friends, and your group will come up with even more possibilities. You don't have to agree with all of the entries. ("Using all the different shampoos and soaps in someone else's shower" didn't resonate with me, and neither did "Neighbors with pools.") Just keep turning pages, and it won't be too long before you find several more Awesome Things that you can relate to. And you will probably find yourself smiling, nodding, and laughing out loud.

Once you get into this mode, you may pay closer attention to those magic moments in your own life. Like sliding a key perfectly into a lock in the dark, without fumbling and without turning on the light. Watching a squirrel figure out how to invade a rodent-proof bird feeder. The smell of tea that wafts up when you unwrap a brand-new box of it. It's all good ... and Awesome. Thanks, Neil. [This review was based on seeing the pre-pub galley proof.] Read more ›

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome is opening this book to any random page and getting a big grin on your face March 5, 2010

By PT Cruiser TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is a great book to open up when you're depressed or anxious or bored or just any old time. The topics of "awsomeness" are mostly simple, familiar things that you don't often stop to appreciate. Things like "Pulling off your wet bathing suit and putting on dry clothes after a long swim" or "The smell of books" or "The sound of rain from inside the tent". But not only does Neil Pasricha, the author, suggest these awesome moments in life, but he expands on them with little descriptions and stories describing them. For example, under "Remembering what movie that guy is from" he talks about seeing a character in a movie that you know you've seen somewhere before, in some other movie, but which one? Was it in Shawshank Redemption? Or Miracle on 34th Street? No! He was the knife guy in Once Upon a Time in Mexico! Awesome!

I don't think there has been one time that I've opened this book that it hasn't made me smile. And there are a lot of times when I'm bummed out about something and I don't have a lot of time to figure out why I'm bummed or read some long philosophy book about what to do about it. I can just open this book and instantly relate to at least a couple of the topic pages and it takes me to a different place, a place where I can smile in spite of myself or giggle about the fact that someone else finds the same things as I do pretty amazing and can relate.

Picking up this book when I'm unhappy and then finding myself in a not so bad mood after all? AWESOME!

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Accentuating the Positive March 7, 2010

By Ellen W. VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

It seems like there's a lot of discontentment going around these days. People get so caught up in their busy lives, focusing so much on what's wrong, what they don't have, that they forget to appreciate the good things. That's where "The Book of AWESOME" comes in. This wonderful little book (based on a popular website) lists the simple pleasures that we all tend to overlook, like snow days and warm underwear, then describes why they're so awesome.

Unlike a lot of other self-help books, reading "The Book of AWESOME" really can change your attitude. It doesn't ask you to change your life, just to pay attention to the good things. It's really not hard at all. It's impossible to read this book and not find at least one entry that makes you shout "YES!" in agreement. It's a great feeling when you see that other people appreciate the same little things you do. But that's not the best part. The best part is that this book gets you to start looking for the awesome things in your own life. After I finished it, I started thinking of all the things that I thought should have made the list, and it made me want to write my very own "Book of AWESOME." This is also a great book to share with friends. You'll end up sharing ideas, getting excited over the things you have in common and the things that maybe you hadn't thought of before.

I liked the writing style, too. It's fun and easy to read. This could have ended up being a really schmultzy, nicey-nice book, but thankfully, it never takes itself too seriously. This is a book that embraces its own dorkiness. It uses lots of silly rhymes, and all but one entry ends with "AWESOME!" It's like it's saying to let go and have fun, and quit worrying about how you'll look. Embrace your own inner dork!... It had a very warm feeling, and I could tell that the author put a lot of himself into it.

In this cynical age, we often forget how wonderful life really is, and "The Book of AWESOME" is a much needed remedy. It doesn't try to overwhelm your emotions with sappiness, just shows you the great things you might be overlooking. Its message is that no matter how bad things seem, there are always things to enjoy in life, and it rings so true. This is something I've always believed myself, but even we optimists can use a reminder now and then. It's easy to forget to appreciate the little things, so this book is great to pull out over and over. Read a little when you're having a bad day or when you're going through a tough times. Its reminders will lift your spirits, and its personable writing will just make you smile. AWESOME! Read more ›

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A feel-good book March 13, 2010

By Thomas E. Davis TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is a tome for browsing, a pick-me-up for when you're feeling down. If puppies and cupcakes and cheerful smiles don't lift your spirits, then put on some Goth music and try another book, but the rest of us can appreciate the nearly 400 pages of brief, well-written personal reflections on subjects that make most people happy.

Some of these essays are only a few words long (one, entitled "When you push the button for the elevator and realize it's already there" consists of just two words: "Ding! AWESOME!") and some are several pages long (such as "Mastering the art of the all-you-can-eat buffet," or "Smiling and thinking of good friends who are gone"). They're sure to start discussions -- and perhaps even arguments (if you enjoy that sort of thing).

For me, Pasricha's topics seem to fall into four categories. The majority are quite quotidian: popping bubble wrap, hitting green lights, finding prime seats, free refills, free samples, untangling knots, locating your keys, friendly nods, getting a bargain, sharing umbrellas, fireworks, salt, breakfast in bed, campires, perfectly popped popcorn, Saturday mornings, sweatpants, the smell of books, fast food, exact change, silence, your pillow, showers, long hugs, freshly mown grass, remembering names.

A few of the topics seem like rather vain attempts at making unpleasant things pleasant: dangerous playground equipment, dropping food on the floor, cleaning the lint trap, really old Tupperware, a stranger's fart, the smell of gasoline, your colon, gym pain, putting potato chips on a sandwich, grass stains, crying, rain hair, locking people out of the car and pretending to drive away.

The most interesting disquisitions deal with odd situations that give one a delicious frisson of recognition.... A number of them are youthful memories: when you get the milk-to-cereal ratio just right, when someone lands on the hotel you just built in Monopoly, the sound of scissors cutting construction paper, when you're really tired and about to fall asleep and someone throws a blanket on you, the first scoop out of a jar of peanut butter, blowing out all the candles on your first try, wearing underwear just out of the dryer, that one square in the waffle that's most loaded with butter and syrup, getting a trucker to blow his horn, pushing those little buttons on the soft drink cup lid, dangling your feet in water, the last day of school.

There are also many adult experiences but, like the childhood variety, most are sudden sense memories with long titles: when the socks from the dryer all match up perfectly, when the vending machine gives you two things instead of one, finding a mix tape given to you by an old boyfriend or girlfriend, when you arrive at your destination just as a great song ends on the radio, when you nudge the person snoring next to you and it makes them stop, when the guy at the border doesn't ask any questions, finally clipping your fingernails after you've been meaning to do it all week, when your suitcase tumbles down the luggage chute first after a long flight, when you're driving late at night on an empty gas tank and a gas station appears on the horizon.

The book ends with the longest essay of the collection. Entitled "Remembering how lucky we are to be here right now," it's a wry reflection on the amazing, improbable fact of our own existence and an exhortation to feel gratitude and joy for it.

Because it is so personal, what The Book of Awesome doesn't address could fill many other volumes, so it's safe to assume that the first of several sequels is already in the works (snow angels, anyone?), and you, dear reader, could well be its author. Better get cracking! Read more ›