Up! A Pragmatic Look at the Direction of Life

Insufficient healthcare coverage, a weakened economy, the fragile environment-most people would be hard pressed to find even one example of how things are better today than they were yesterday. How about one for each day of the year?

In his engaging and informative new book, Up!, David Niven, the best-selling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series(more than a million copies sold in the U.S. alone), gives us 365 examples of how life is better now than ever before. We think we're running out of time-but we actually live twice as long as our great-grandparents did. We think our culture is in decline-but worldwide IQ scores are higher today than ever before. We think life keeps getting harder-but the percentage of people who feel happy is growing every year. Well researched and full of insight, Up! not only proves that life today is a vast improvement from the past but also that it continues to get better with each passing day.

For those who need convincing or for those who need reminding, Up! is a great resource for appreciating how far we've come and realizing that, in all ways, things are truly looking Up!

David Niven, Ph.D., is the author of the popular 100 Simple Secrets series, which has been translated into 30 languages. As a psychologist and social scientist, his work makes the case that a more satisfying life can be had with small changes in our actions and attitudes. He teaches at Wright State University.