cover image Never Be Lonely Again: The Way Out of Emptiness, Isolation, and a Life Unfulfilled

Never Be Lonely Again: The Way Out of Emptiness, Isolation, and a Life Unfulfilled

Pat Love and Jon Carlson, HCI, $14.95 trade paper (306p) ISBN 978-0-7573-1565-7

Doctors Love (The Truth About Love) and Carlson (co-author of Their Finest Hour) look at contemporary loneliness, compounded by constant connectivity, and offer a fresh perspective steeped in Buddhism and the teachings of the Dalai Lama. The basic premise is that by following the four noble truths (relating to the nature, origin, and cessation of suffering) we can eliminate loneliness from our lives. While acknowledging that loneliness occurs, we can accept it rather than try to bury it with inane digital entertainment. Their advice is straightforward (spend less money on material things that won't give you long-term pleasure and more money on experiences; work in a field that is congruent with your values rather than dissonant) yet colored in an eastern bent. This is not a bad thing, particularly for readers with a passing familiarity with or interest in Buddhist practices. However, readers expecting pop psychology will likely be thrown by the spirituality at the root of the book. Nonetheless, Love and Carlson, old pros in the field, offer excellent advice for a modern Western culture, and that can benefit any number of readers. (Feb.)