I found "The Geography of Bliss: One Grumps Search for the Happiest Places in the World" on the Uncollege reading list (I'm slowly getting through their list). I thought the premise was interesting, a man travelling the world to find the places who's inhabitants are happiest, and what makes them so cheery. But aside from having an intrigueing plot, it's a surprisingly entertaining read.
Eric Weiner is a correspondant for NPR and a self-proclaimed curmudgeon. When he sets out on his quest to find the happiest places on Earth, he first starts in Amsterdam, where he visits the World Database of Happiness - yes, that's a real thing. While in Amsterdam, he lives as the Amsterdammies? live, smoking hash and spending his days chugging coffee at cafes. He doesn't indulge in Amsterdam's legal prostitution, because he explains, he doesn't think his wife would approve, even if it was for research purposes. At the WDoH, he procurs a list of the world's countries, arranged by happiness level, and sets off.
In his travels, he visits a half dozen or so countries, those that are reported to be happiest, least happiest and some that rank in the middle, and at each stop, he lives like the people do. He tries rotten shark meat in Iceland, he stays in an ashram in India, he buys rounds for strangers at a pub in Britain. And at each stop, he talks to the locals about their happiness.
He explores the contridictions between places are happy for certain reasons, like a good economy (Switzerland) and places which are happy for opposite reasons (India). He talks to experts on the human condition, and quotes philosophers, all interspersed with his own amusing observations. In the end, he finds that there is no one thing that makes us happy (though there are certainly things that statistically can help) and that paradise is only paradise if it's a temporary stop.
If you find yourself in need off a little perspective, The Geography of Bliss is probably for you.
