Twelve © 2008, 329 pages

Note: I read this book in part for The Sunday Salon. See these four related posts.

In The Geography of Bliss Eric Weiner (who was a foreign correspondent for National Public Radio for a decade) visits ten different countries, interviewing locals and considering each country’s cultural eccentrities with a view to identifying the factors that contribute to each population’s happiness–or lack thereof. Weiner’s itinerary is set to a large extent by data collected by the World Database of Happiness: yes, there is such a place, and it’s housed in a nondescript building on the campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Weiner’s first halt on his grand tour. The author’s quest leads him also to Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, Great Britain, and the United States. Not all of these places can boast a happy populace. If you play Which of These Countries Doesn’t Belong with the above list, the most obvious odd man out is Moldova, a miserable counattempt that Weiner visited more or less to cleanse his palate after too much sweetness and light. But this visit too is instructive, as he is able to come to some conclusions about why Moldovans are on the entire so wretched.

[INSET TEXT: A humorless interlocutor in Switzerland identified clean public restrooms as a source of Swiss happiness, for example,

while the Moldovans Weiner spoke with named as their sole source of joy their country’s fresh fruits and vegetables.] What’s fascinating about Weiner’s book is how different the cultures he writes about are, and how different some of the things that make them happy are. Sure, everybody’s better off if they’ve got enough money to support themselves (though beyond “enough,” money doesn’t matter all that much), and having familial and community support is always a plus. But there do seem to be cultural differences once you get beyond these basics. A humorless interlocutor in Switzerland identified clean public restrooms as a source of Swiss happiness, for example, while the Moldovans Weiner spoke with named as their sole source of joy their country’s fresh fruits and vegetables. In Thailand as a rule people eschew excessive thought–a light-heartedness that breeds contentment, while in India people revel in unpredictability.

Weiner’s conclusions about the sources of happiness won’t knock anyone off their chair, but that’s not really the point: it’s the journey, stupid! This armchair jaunt thcoarse ten disparate cultures is a awesome read, funny and interesting and well-written. Just the sort of book I like.

Tags: book reviews, books, Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss