Australian author Eamon Evans is a man on a mission. He wants us to accept that life is not just one long party and you don’t have to feel happy all the time. His new book THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MISERABLE challenges the modern fixation with happiness. The subtitle: ‘A short history of human happiness, and why sometimes it’s good to feel bad’ encapsulates his key message.
Drawing on history, philosophy, and cultural observation, Evans argues that the cult of perpetual positivity is both unrealistic and almost impossible to achieve. For much of human history, we were happy just to survive, to have a roof over our head, and not be pursued by wolves or eaten by bears. Happiness was fleeting, often incidental, rather than a goal in itself to be relentlessly pursued.
This reframing of our happiness expectations is one of the book’s strongest and most appealing aspects. It almost offers a sense of relief, validating the idea that dissatisfaction and melancholy are just a natural and inevitable part of being human. The idea is especially relevant now that it is so easy to be swamped by social media images of the perfect life we’re not living.
Evans writes with the tone of a professional comedian. It’s conversational, sometimes a little acerbic, clearly self-aware, and relentlessly witty. Whilst the humour makes the book an easy read, it did become a little much for this reader. About mid-way through Chapter 3, ‘Que Sera, Sera’, I started to crave a little less joking around and a little more seriousness. That said, the humour does mean the book romps along, moving swiftly across eras and ideas and connecting ancient lives to our modern dilemma. This approach makes the book feel lively and accessible; it’s a rowdy tutorial not a formal lecture. But there are still some big ideas here as Evans raises the notion that our prevalent self-help and wellness culture steadfastly rejects, the idea that it’s OK to feel bad. Indeed, maybe we need the lows to fully appreciate the highs.
The historical sweep is effective in illustrating how attitudes towards happiness have evolved over time. It also highlights how many of today’s anxieties and worries have been commercialised or exploited for the good of the vast ‘wellness’ industry. We have to feel bad if we want to find/buy a fix – join this gym, take this supplement, buy these clothes.
Chapter 17 is especially good in showing ‘why chasing joy makes us miserable’. It begins with a quote from Alain de Botton, one of my favourite writers, saying ‘the difference between what we expect from life and what life actually delivers is the cause of most unhappiness’. And there you have it. Evans makes the pithy, and undoubtedly accurate, observation that ‘the problem isn’t that life is bad; it’s that life is fine – and fine now feels like failure’.
I think most readers will find something reassuring in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MISERABLE. We’ve all had moments of doubt and insecurity, of thinking everyone else is happier than we are, whilst still knowing deep down that it’s probably all an illusion. And even if I would like the book to go deeper into many of the issues it raises, the message is still meaningful. It’s all about accepting the broader emotional landscape and accepting that a little disappointment or frustration or unhappiness can actually lead to a happier and more satisfying life.
Eamon Evans is the author of fifteen books covering history, sport, scandals, words, films, alcohol and urban legends, all with his tongue in his cheek. His previous titles include Great Australian Urban Legends; The Lucky Country: Amazing Australian Tales of Pure Dumb Luck; and Whatever Happened to Ned Kelly’s Head? This is the first book to draw on his philosophy degree along with his impressive writerly expertise.
Eamon Evans THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MISERABLE is published by Affirm Press, a Simon and Schuster Imprint, on 30 December 2025.
