Roger-Pol Droit
Your life will be perfect Publication date : January 13, 2005
Personal coaches and gurus have invaded our cities, promising philosophical, homeopathic, biological, Ayurvedic or vegetarian short cuts to happiness under the label of 'personal development'. We must all be fulfilled. And we must all be efficient, positive, slim and relaxed. We must simultaneously be sex machines, artists and mystics. And we must never be frustrated, anxious or hesitant. We must, above all, be happy - totally, effortlessly happy, and without making any sacrifice.
In the face of so many scams, I felt an urgent need to take action. I chose to use comedy and mockery, or farce, to develop a plot with multiple developments that follows the irresistible rise of Marcel Staline, a superstar-guru known for his invention of the 'global method'. In the process, we encounter both naive and unscrupulous characters. We are taught several recipes for permanent happiness, which include the practice of toe yoga and the use of rhubarb oil. These recipes, broken down into several lessons, are presented in various ways, including private tutorials, the web site of this master cynic and manipulator, newspaper articles, and off-the-record conversations - until a scandal erupts, writes Roger-Pol Droit.
This is an unfettered philosophical tale by the author of 101 Expériences de philosophie quotidienne, which was sold in translation all over the world.
In this vitriolic attack against excessive psychologising, Roger-Pol Droit shows that happiness is not a recipe that can be taught and that behind every rigid short cut lurks a form of totalitarianism.
Roger-Pol Droit, a writer, journalist and philosopher, is a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). He is the author of La Compagnie des philosophes, 1998; La Compagnie des contemporains, 2002; 101 Expériences de philosophie quotidienne, 2001, which received the France-Télévision prize; Dernières nouvelles des choses, 2003; and Michel Foucault, entretiens, 2004.
In the face of so many scams, I felt an urgent need to take action. I chose to use comedy and mockery, or farce, to develop a plot with multiple developments that follows the irresistible rise of Marcel Staline, a superstar-guru known for his invention of the 'global method'. In the process, we encounter both naive and unscrupulous characters. We are taught several recipes for permanent happiness, which include the practice of toe yoga and the use of rhubarb oil. These recipes, broken down into several lessons, are presented in various ways, including private tutorials, the web site of this master cynic and manipulator, newspaper articles, and off-the-record conversations - until a scandal erupts, writes Roger-Pol Droit.
This is an unfettered philosophical tale by the author of 101 Expériences de philosophie quotidienne, which was sold in translation all over the world.
In this vitriolic attack against excessive psychologising, Roger-Pol Droit shows that happiness is not a recipe that can be taught and that behind every rigid short cut lurks a form of totalitarianism.
Roger-Pol Droit, a writer, journalist and philosopher, is a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). He is the author of La Compagnie des philosophes, 1998; La Compagnie des contemporains, 2002; 101 Expériences de philosophie quotidienne, 2001, which received the France-Télévision prize; Dernières nouvelles des choses, 2003; and Michel Foucault, entretiens, 2004.