How to Be Perfect, Michael Schur
How to Be Perfect, Michael Schur
24 Rating(s)
List: $25.99 | Sale: $17.15
Club: $12.99

How to Be Perfect
The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question

Bestseller

Author: Michael Schur

Narrator: Michael Schur, Kristen Bell, D'Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Todd May

Unabridged: 9 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/25/2022


Synopsis

From the creator of The Good Place and the cocreator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world. Read by the author, this one-of-a-kind audio production features guest appearances by members of the cast of The Good Place.

Most people think of themselves as “good", but it’s not always easy to determine what’s “good” or “bad”—especially in a world filled with complicated choices and pitfalls and booby traps and bad advice. Fortunately, many smart philosophers have been pondering this conundrum for millennia and they have guidance for us. With bright wit and deep insight, How to Be Perfect explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more, so we can sound cool at parties and become better people.

Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. By the time the book is done, we’ll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. Okay, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.

How to Be Perfect is narrated by Michael Schur, Kristen Bell, D’Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, and Todd May!

About Michael Schur

Michael Schur is a television writer and producer who has worked on shows like The OfficeMaster of NoneThe Comeback, and Hacks, and created or cocreated Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place, and Rutherford Falls. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jennifer, and their two kids, William and Ivy.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ben on June 15, 2022

The first half of this book was great, and I really enjoyed the author’s journey into moral philosophy. The humor was decent, the explanations easy to understand, and the applications and examples were ample and done well. The second half simultaneously needed to be cut significantly or expanded mas......more

Goodreads review by David on March 22, 2022

If you, like me, still harbour dreams of waxing eloquently on Wittgenstein, noodling aloud over the nihilism of Nietzsche, or articulating your profound ideas about Aristotle — but the thought of actually reading these philosophers feels just a little too exhausting — this is the book for you. 2,500......more

Goodreads review by David on January 03, 2022

The television show The Good Place led its cast and crew to new places intellectually. A situation comedy about eternal damnation based on moral philosophy and ethics requires new and different smarts. Thinking is required, not just gags. Chief among the team was Michael Schur, its creator and comed......more

Goodreads review by Kassidy on February 23, 2022

This book was tough to finish. I for one do not like ethics in general so I was hoping this books would spice things up and make ethics a little more fun. It didn’t. Mike shows his liberal, left-wing biases throughout the book which was a bummer because again, I was hoping for a more fun view on eth......more

Goodreads review by Jim on April 12, 2022

Accessible, brilliant, funny, enlightening exploration of how to achieve not perfection but true human goodness, how to be a thoughtful, useful member of the species. For such a deep dive into complicated thought, it is remarkably clear and understandable. Recommended to me by a friend as “the best......more


Quotes

"Michael Schur and the cast of "The Good Place" once again collaborate, this time to ponder today’s toughest moral questions using philosophical views from the East and West. Schur delivers hilarious sarcasm as he tackles ethics and explains how to balance morality and achieve virtue. Friendly and inviting sounding, he is able to take the difficult, oftentimes dry topic of philosophy and make it engaging and entertaining. Using a simple and steady pace, Schur's narration is coupled with signature voices from the show, including Ted Danson and Kristen Bell. The entire cast makes this production an intriguing and funny way to introduce or reintroduce oneself to philosophy and achieve goodness."