... this short, conversational book feels like a well-intentioned lecture from Dad to stand up straight, tuck in your shirt, and get a job for Chrissake...By the end, I felt nothing but despair.that’s why the book is so distressing. It isn’t that Nichols, via his good humor and 'moral hectoring,' doesn’t make a persuasive case for the importance of re-embracing our better angels. It’s that our better angels have already decided they’d rather just watch Netflix and chill. And then subtweet us ... the handful of remedies Nichols offers — and kudos to him for trying — feels out of reach, too.
... a searing critique ... Unfortunately, [Nichols] underplays sources of discontent, including income inequality and the effects of climate change and casts 'internet culture' as an ill-defined yet all-powerful villain. This cranky manifesto is unlikely to change minds.
