Product Description

“Conventional wisdom,” says Roger Housden, “tells us that nobody goes to heaven for having a good time.” Seven Sins for a Life Worth Living, then, is a refreshing, liberating, and decidedly welcome dose of unconventional wisdom that awakens us to the simple delights and transformative joys of the world around us.

With elegance, gentle humor, and remarkable openness, Housden takes us along as he recalls his personal journey toward an appreciation of what he calls the Seven Pleasures: The Pleasure of All Five Senses, The Pleasure of Being Foolish,The Pleasure of Not Knowing, The Pleasure of Not Being Perfect, The Pleasure of Doing Nothing Useful, The Pleasure of Being Ordinary, and The Pleasure of Coming Home.

Housden writes, for instance, of submitting to the ultimate folly of falling in love, of celebrating our imperfections, of coming to understand the virtues of the Slow Food movement while enjoying an all-afternoon lunch in a small French village, and of discovering in a Saharan cave that, however extraordinary our surroundings, “we are human, a glorious nothing much to speak of”—and learning to be at peace with the notion.

Such pleasures may be suspect in today’s achievement-driven, tightly scheduled, relent-lessly self-improving, conspicuously consumptive culture, but surely the greater sin lies in letting them slip away moment by precious moment. “The purpose of this book,” says Housden, “is to inspire you to lighten up and fall in love with the world and all that is in it.” Reading it is a pleasure indeed.


“When you die,God and the angels will hold you accountablefor all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.”


Roger Housden, author of the bestselling Ten Poems series, presents a joyously affirmative, warmly personal, and spiritually illuminating meditation on the virtues of opening ourselves up to pleasures like being foolish, not being perfect, and doing nothing useful, the pleasure of not knowing, and even (would you believe it?) the pleasure of being ordinary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #534625 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-06
• Released on: 2005-12-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307336712
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"In Seven Sins for a Life Worth Living Housden presents erudite, witty essays on seven so-called “transgressions”—sensuality, foolishness, ignorance, imperfection, uselessness, ordinariness and prodigality. There are no case studies, success stories or how-to exercises in Seven Sins. Instead, we get the author’s personal reflections on modern life, sprinkled throughout with apt, wide-ranging references and quotes from philosophers and poets, scientists, political figures, artists and literary greats. This book is a subjective prescription for happiness, an utter delight, filled with Housden’s trademark self-deprecatory humor...Roger Housden wants you to consider sin in a whole new light—as a means toward enlightenment! This book is an utter delight, filled with Housden’s trademark self-deprecatory humor and slightly offbeat insight. You probably won’t see hell if you read this book, but you just might catch a glimpse of heaven.”—BookPage

“A beautifully introspective book written by a keen observer of modern life. Housden's writing is pheromonal and provocative. It resembles the random musings of a self-professed dreamer. But lying within those ramblings is an elixir for life.” —Wendy Hoke, Dallas Morning News


From the Hardcover edition.

Review
"In Seven Sins for a Life Worth Living Housden presents erudite, witty essays on seven so-called “transgressions”—sensuality, foolishness, ignorance, imperfection, uselessness, ordinariness and prodigality. There are no case studies, success stories or how-to exercises in Seven Sins. Instead, we get the author’s personal reflections on modern life, sprinkled throughout with apt, wide-ranging references and quotes from philosophers and poets, scientists, political figures, artists and literary greats. This book is a subjective prescription for happiness, an utter delight, filled with Housden’s trademark self-deprecatory humor...Roger Housden wants you to consider sin in a whole new light—as a means toward enlightenment! This book is an utter delight, filled with Housden’s trademark self-deprecatory humor and slightly offbeat insight. You probably won’t see hell if you read this book, but you just might catch a glimpse of heaven.”—BookPage

“A beautifully introspective book written by a keen observer of modern life. Housden's writing is pheromonal and provocative. It resembles the random musings of a self-professed dreamer. But lying within those ramblings is an elixir for life.” —Wendy Hoke, Dallas Morning News

About the Author
Roger Housden emigrated from England to the United States in 1998 and now lives in New York City and New Jersey. He is
the author of numerous books on cultural and spiritual themes, including the bestselling Ten Poems series. You can contact him at tenpoems@juno.com.

Customer Reviews

Very Pleasurable Reading
If like many of us lately you are a slave to your email, cell phone, schedule and frantic life, this delightful book will help you unwind. It chronicles in a deeply personal and accessible way, Housden's search for ways to accept life on its own terms, rather than constantly striving for more and more. Housden is the author of the best-selling Ten Poems series. His latest work is a journey through his Seven Pleasures: the pleasure of all five senses, being foolish, not being perfect, and so on. "Why not celebrate our blemishes, our imperfections, as the very qualities that make us human?"

His book offers a refreshing way to celebrate life in all its imperfect richness, and encourages you to accept your own ordinariness and humanity. He says each of us, in our own extraordinary, imperfect way are wonderful in our own right, just as we are.

Highly recommended for those Type A personalities who find themselves constantly on the go, if you can just schedule enough time in your day to read it.

lighten up and live longer
Chalk one up for the marketing department. When I saw this catchy title at our public library, I took the bait. Not that I'm sorry I read the book, but I was hoping for something more substantial given the promising table of contents. The seven sins worth living for are the pleasures of enjoying the beauty of the five senses, being foolish, not knowing, not being perfect, doing nothing useful, being ordinary, and of coming home. The good news, says Housden, is that no upgrades are needed to live this way, that if we can learn to be present in the moment and to each other, "life is already enhanced enough as it is." His stated purpose reminds me of a friend's joke: "Lighten up, you'll be dead a long time."

Our readiness to follow our culture's cues leads us astray. We pride ourselves on being important, busy, and driven, developing personas that, deep down, we intuit are at best superficial and perhaps even phony. If you asked most anyone, they would agree that a new car, an in-box stuffed with hundreds of emails, or a better address do not, ultimately, provide a deep sense of satisfaction, but that's not how we live. Religion, too, comes in for heavy criticisms in Housden's view; it generates guilt and all sorts of inhibitions. In selected portions of the book Housden shares from his own life how he has developed a more centered self that honors the inner journey as much or more as the outer journey. Throughout the book he sprinkles trenchant aphorisms regarding life lived more joyfully, more playfully, more fully. "When you die," goes one piece of advice, "God and the angels will hold you accountable for all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself." Learning to be at home in the world and with yourself is no easy task; Housden gets you started.

Seven Sins has changed my life!
SEVEN SINS confirms what I already knew...that a life worth living is also a life of pleasure and enjoyment..not just productivity. And, as a psychotherapist, I recommend it to friends and clients! It is clear, well-written, personal and, in the spirit of lightening up, doesn't take itself too seriously. Enjoy!

Robert Levithan