Its Great to Suck at Something, Karen Rinaldi
Its Great to Suck at Something, Karen Rinaldi
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It's Great to Suck at Something
The Unexpected Joy of Wiping Out and What It Can Teach Us About Patience, Resilience, and the Stuff that Really Matters

Author: Karen Rinaldi

Narrator: Karen Rinaldi

Unabridged: 7 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2019


Synopsis

Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal with this “wholly original work that is destined to become a classic” (Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?

Odds are, not recently. We live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over happiness. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing anymore: they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever.

This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something “shows how joy and growth come from risking failure and letting go of perfectionism” (The Wall Street Journal). Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport Karen Rinaldi’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom: the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.

Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, this “thought-provoking, engaging examination…explains how our lives are more satisfying and rich when we give ourselves the opportunity to experiment, struggle, and play” (Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project).

About Karen Rinaldi

Karen Rinaldi has worked in the publishing industry for over two decades. In 2012, she founded the imprint Harper Wave at HarperCollins. The feature film Maggie’s Plan, is based on her novel The End of Men. Karen has been published in The New York Times, Oprah.com, Time, Literary Hub, Glamour.com, and other publications. She lives in New York and New Jersey with her husband and two sons.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Leah on February 13, 2022

Honestly, I didn't think I would need to read an entire book entitled “Suck at Something” to drive the point home. Most days, I feel like I don’t need to seek out things to suck at, but that’s another story. So while I am confessing my honest thoughts, I will say that I could write two vastly differ......more

Goodreads review by LeeLee on June 24, 2019

The basic premise of the book is this: if you're afraid of sucking at something, you'll never try anything new. You need to open yourself up to being vulnerable. Go ahead. Suck at something. Do things just for the love of doing it. Which is great. Except the woman who wrote this is -- ugh, how do I p......more

Goodreads review by Itssandra.books on November 28, 2019

3.5 en realidad. - “Hazlo fatal, pero hazlo igualmente” es un libro que aboga por la libertad, por la necesidad de equivocarse, de aprender de los errores y no sentirse mal por fallar. - Este libro lo recibí en un momento en el que quería leer muchos libros de este estilo que tocaran diferentes temas. E......more

Goodreads review by Susannah on May 09, 2019

Such a wise, funny, inspiring read......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on October 12, 2024

That was a lot of fun, and had some great messages and thoughts. I’m not sure why, or if it is just my own experience… but I’m not sure I’ve ever met a surfer who wasn’t also a philosopher in some sense. This book gave me a lot to think about and ponder … it also helped me to put into perspective th......more