50 Things to See, Hear and Do This Fall

TIME's arts critics round up the fall's most anticipated movies, books, TV shows, albums and exhibits

Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

fall preview books Audrey Niffenegger Barbara Kingsolver andre agassi michael crichton 
Dan Brown A.S. Byatt John Irving michael lewis 
James Ellroy Anthony Beevor Barbara Ehrenreich Stephen King

Oprah Winfrey. Smiley faces. Joel Osteen. Motivational speakers. These are just a few of the hyper-happy things that set Nickel and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich's teeth on edge. In Bright-Sided, Ehrenreich describes the national insistence on positive thinking as a "mass delusion." As a breast-cancer survivor, she has a particular ax to grind against a "pink ribbon culture" that believes in the healing effect of a positive attitude. "Cheerfulness is required," scowls Ehrenreich, "dissent a kind of treason." And if we're so damn happy, she asks, why do Americans account for two-thirds of the global market for antidepressants? Her solution: less forced gaiety, more realism.

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