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A NEW YORKER AND THE ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF 2022 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 An eloquent moving witty and above all useful demonstration of philosophy s power to help us weather the storms of being human Oliver Burkeman author of FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS Pain Loneliness Grief Injustice Hope Life is hard as the past few years have made painfully clear From personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world sometimes simply going on can feel too much But could there be solace and even hope in acknowledging the hardships of the human condition Might doing so free us from the tyranny of striving for our best lives and help us find warmth humanity and humour in the lives we actually have Could it inspire in us the desire for a better world In this profound and personal book Kieran Setiya shows how philosophy can help us find our way He shares his own experience with chronic pain and the consolation that comes from making sense of it He asks what we can learn from