Rating: 
Summary: Telling the truth; making me laugh
Review: ...
I picked up Daily Afflictions as an afterthought, expecting it to be a relatively trite satire of self-help books. But as I read it, I laughed. And then I bought it. And then I bought another one.
The book sits by my bed and has, on occasion, helped me to get out of it--I have lost track of the times I've read particular passages (one of my favorites is the tragedy of commitment: "the future is full of possibilities that I must shoot in the head"). And what was originally just amusing is now actually inspirational. Daily Afflictions is a synthesis of philosophies I find persuasive, particularly existentialism, and it encourages me to plunge into things without fear of failure and wallow around in the hopelessness of it all.
Sound cheerful?
Boyd begins with an Oscar Wilde quote I enjoy and he seems to take to heart: "If you are going to tell people the truth, you had better make them laugh or they will kill you."
Boyd both makes me laugh and tells the truth--what more can you ask for?
Rating:
Summary: Boy, I like this book.
Review: A short, easy-to-read book that will make you laugh and make you think. It may even change your life. What more do you want in a book?
Rating:
Summary: He's Not Kidding
Review: Andrew Boyd's brilliant "Daily Afflictions" purports to be a satire of self-help/spirituality books; a kind of "power of negative thinking." It's very funny. But much of it also happens to be true. There is an invigorating power in squarely facing just how bad things can be, and Boyd's amusingly paradoxical "affirmations" will show you how to make the darkness visible (to quote Jung, one of Boyd's mentors; along with Nietszche.) Learn to find your inner corpse; embrace your inner psychopath; enjoy the boot camp of a dysfunctional family; intensify your failure; experience the wonder and power of the Void (which seems to be Boyd's word for "God") and much, much more. Boyd's basic message: pain and suffering are good for you. If that doesn't make you laugh, then go read Dale Carnegie.
Rating:
Summary: He's Not Kidding
Review: Andrew Boyd's brilliant "Daily Afflictions" purports to be a satire of self-help/spirituality books; a kind of "power of negative thinking." It's very funny. But much of it also happens to be true. There is an invigorating power in squarely facing just how bad things can be, and Boyd's amusingly paradoxical "affirmations" will show you how to make the darkness visible (to quote Jung, one of Boyd's mentors; along with Nietszche.) Learn to find your inner corpse; embrace your inner psychopath; enjoy the boot camp of a dysfunctional family; intensify your failure; experience the wonder and power of the Void (which seems to be Boyd's word for "God") and much, much more. Boyd's basic message: pain and suffering are good for you. If that doesn't make you laugh, then go read Dale Carnegie.
Rating:
Summary: A dark book for dark times
Review: Boyd is half-psychotherapist, half-philosopher, half-shaman, and half-disgruntled yet optimistic crank. How does he paint vignettes that so perfectly speak to me? The cliche of "I laughed, I cried" is so true with this book, but it gets you doing both at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Afflictions Affirm Life
Review: Daily Afflictions Daily Afflictions I confess. I felt both repelled and attracted to the title of Andrew Boyd's new book Daily Afflictions. You see, I practice affirmations--you know--like saying to my reflection in the mirror each morning, 'This will be a wonderful day.' But my attraction to Afflictions overwhelmed me. I bought and read Afflictions and it has changed my entire life without turning me into a toad.
Forget those comments on his book that say Boyd's a master philosopher serving up a really philosophical potpourri of writings. Afflictions is a dash of awful truth tempered by irony-laced humor with a little sunshine thrown in.
I knew it was the book for me after I read the affliction about getting in touch with your creative self only to find he's a moody, drunken s.o.b. I flopped my head down on my arms and laughed until I cried. Then I picked the book back up to reread the section, just in case I'd interpreted it wrong. Nope!
Then there's the affliction Suburb Within. Reading it spurred me to move out of the comfort zone of my familiar inner suburb. I've taken up residence in my inner inner city to find the answers. These may not be your particular afflictions, but Bros. Void and Boyd discuss enough afflictions that you're sure to hit several that have their own special meaning to you.
I read the book cover to cover; from Brother Void's ramblings to the Afflictions; from the glossary through the immeasurable thanks to the index. Boyd's distinct, sardonic humor isn't limited to just the afflictions. It afflicts his entire book.
When I'd finished reading Daily Afflictions, I felt like I'd lost a friend, so I started reading it again. And with each affliction, I think of yet another friend that I should share the book with.
Rating:
Summary: Ammonium Nitrate for the Soul
Review: Hey, that Anthony Lappe guy *really* likes Boyd's book. But I concur with him wholeheartedly, four times over. I once saw Boyd go head-to-head with Deepak Chopra in a sweaty, no-holds-barred round of quantum mysticism and when the ectoplasm cleared, Chopra's Giant Within looked like a whimpering Inner Child. Not pretty. But don't take *my* word for it; take *MY* word for it, from the backcover blurb I wrote for this brain-wrenching blend of agape and schadenfreude: Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life. Unless, of course, it's your *last*, in which case this little book is all that stands between you and the yawning maw of endless night. Brother Boyd preaches the gospel of being *in* nothingness---facing, and embracing, the brutal truth that the Cosmic Web of Interconnectedness is Zoloft for bliss ninnies, that we are motes in the unblinking eye of a godless cosmos. Forget New Age gruel like Chicken Soup For The Soul; Daily Afflictions is *ammonium nitrate* for the soul, calculated to reduce your most comforting self-delusions to scattered atoms. A Stuart Smalley for people who live their lives inside quotation marks, Brother Boyd teaches us to work through our irony, turning irony about irony into sincerity, even profundity. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Rating:
Summary: Angry, Bleak, Inspirational
Review: I just got the book this weekend and read it from front to back in a feverish 4 AM session. Boyd somehow combines the ideas of Nietzsche, Buddha, Camus, Gandhi and Lenny Bruce into a paradoxically coherent worldview that sums up everything I feel and think about politics, sex, drugs, love and hope. "Daily Afflictions" is often angry, morbid, and bleak - and it is the most inspirational thing I have read in years. The book is the perfect holiday gift for the conflicted, hyper-sensitive worldchanger on your list.
Rating:
Summary: Life is a comedy not a tragedy
Review: I really enjoyed this piss-take on the many self-help books that are often presented as giving answers to life's problems through 'profound affirmations' and 'spiritual wisdom'. The beauty of this book is that it is extremely funny and also true in many respects. Don't take it seriously! It is very effective as it exaggerates insecurities, darkness, worries and doubt to the point of making them laughable and funny, and that is how it works. It makes you realise that life is both a comedy and a tragedy. After reading this book I really thought there was no point in taking life too seriously.
Rating:
Summary: In Afflication there is affirmation
Review: This book is a gem. I have brought it to a number of parties and gatherings and read "afflications" outloud, to great laughter and acclaim. At first, I thought it was a parody of the "daily affirmation" genre. But after reading it, I found it full of refreshing wisdom and insight. It reaches toward the dark side, but reflects a lot of light.
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