Hope in the Age of Anxiety

by Anthony Scioli, Henry Biller

Economic collapse, poverty, disease, natural disasters, the constant threat of community unrest and international terrorism--a quick look at any newspaper is enough to cause almost anyone to feel trapped and desperate. Yet the recent election also revealed a growing search for hope spreading through society. In the timely Hope in the Age of Anxiety , Anthony Scioli and Henry Biller illuminate the nature of hope and offer a multitude of techniques designed to improve the lives of individuals, and bring more light into the world.
In this fascinating and humane book, Scioli and Biller reveal the ways in which human beings acquire and make use of hope. Hope in the Age of Anxiety is meant to be a definitive guide. The evolutionary, biological, and cultural roots of hope are covered along with the seven kinds of hope found in the world's religions. Just as vital, the book provides many personal tools for addressing the major challenges of the human fear, loss, illness, and death. Some of the key areas illuminated in Hope in the Age of

How do you build and sustain hope in trying times?

How can hope help you to achieve your life goals?

How can hope improve your relationships with others?

How can hope aid your recovery from trauma or illness?

How does hope relate to spirituality?

Hope in the Age of Anxiety identifies the skills needed to cultivate hope, and offers suggestions for using these capacities to realize your life goals, support health and healing, strengthen relationships, enhance spirituality, and inoculate yourself against the despair that engulfs many individuals.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

427 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tries to be a hybrid of so many approaches to the topic that I fear it does none of them well. Also, kind of boring.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because a friend of mine brought the phenomenon of hope to my attention as something to examine philosophically. I found many parts of the book interesting and even enlightening but they were reports on the views of other philosophers, psychologists etc. and I am not sure what the authors contribute that is unique. The self-help part of the book was not what I was looking for and so not very interesting to me. Maybe it will make a bigger impact on someone else?

[Chris Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was interesting in terms of the history of the concept of hope. A little soft on the details of Buddhism, Hinduism, and pretty much most of the ideas that it went over in trying to suggest how to manufacture hope. I found the second half more shallow than I would have liked to and a bit repetitive. Just a bit too Aristotelean and Western focused for me.

[JoAnn J. A. Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was somewhat disappointed with this book. Some of it was very good, but other parts did not resonate with me. I did not learn much. I was hoping to find ideas to increase the hope in my life and that was lacking.