The Wonderbox receives Wonderful Coverage

20 January 2012

Roman Krznaric’s The Wonderbox was published on 5^th January and has already received a wealth of coverage and glowing reviews.

The book, which examines what history can teach us to live better, is the perfect read for all those who have made New Year’s Resolutions. As Roman, a teacher at The School of Life,  quotes  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  in the book, 'He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.'

Get your copy of The Wonderbox here and below are a selection of reviews and coverage since publication.

 

Quotes

‘The Wonderbox is a cornucopia of delights. Completely fascinating, beautifully written and brimming with insights that challenge our entrenched and predictable ways of seeing and doing, it draws on an amazing range of stories from the history of human culture to explain how we can find true meaning in life. Every thinking home should have one!’ - Michael Wood, historian, film maker and author of The Story of England

 ‘The author’s enthusiasm for direct solutions to modern dilemmas is infectious.’ - Sue Gerhardt, author of Why Love Matters and The Selfish Society

 ‘Think Alain de Botton meets Niall Ferguson – a wonderful mix of social history and good ideas for everyday living.’ - Robert Kelsey, author of What’s Stopping You?

 

Reviews

 

‘A fascinating rattlebag of intelligent, stimulating essays. The Wonderbox is very much in the mould of Alain de Botton’s bestsellers: densely researched but readable, wise and witty. By taking the long view to debunk some myths of modern life (house husbands are not such a new invention; family meals were never golden times of civilised conversation), Krznaric frees us from passing trends to answer the fundamental question: how should be live now?’ Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times

 ‘Taking one hefty theme per chapter – such as love, work or home – Krznaric serves up a fascinating series of accounts of how we got where we are now, sifting the valuable from the worthless with an impressive indifference to current fashions. After reading The Wonderbox, endlessly shopping for stuff you already have will seem distinctly strange.’ Reader’s Digest, selected as the January 2012 Recommended Read

 ‘Ranging from such lofty issues as love and death to the finer points of carpentry, Krznaric offers a compendium of fascinating and quirky anecdotes and character studies, refiguring them as practical fables for everyday life. Though a pleasure to read cover-to-cover, this book lends itself perfectly to the occasional reader looking for workable solutions to any dilemma. The scope of the stories and the versatility of Krznaric’s interpretations are at once fascinating and illuminating.’ Emily Best, We Love This Book

 ‘This modern guide to living a good life by nurturing relationships, giving more to others, and resisting the self-imposed tyrannies of work, time, ambition and achievement, is entertaining and instructive.’ Iain Finlayson, The Times

 ‘History has the answers if we care to listen to them – a premise so simple it is surprising no one has highlighted it before. Krznaric selects some of the most telling, assembling them in a Wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities.’ James Attlee, The Independent

 ‘A guaranteed pick-me-up for the early days of January! And a book I’m going to be returning to for years.’ Clare English, BBC Radio Scotland Book Cafe

 ‘An intriguing upmarket self-help guide.’ The Guardian

 ‘Inspiration for bold experiments in living.’ Review and author profile in The Oxford Times

 ‘Roman Krznaric delves into the wonderbox of history…and reveals how the past can prompt us to aim higher than we do.’ London Metro.

 ‘Brim-full of insights drawn not from philosophy, religious teachings or psychology but drawing on the writing and lives of great writers including Tolstoy, Thoreau and Orwell. Krznaric weaves together a compelling, fresh argument about how we conduct our relationships, make decisions about the life we lead and the crucial importance of empathy.’ Steve Moore, CEO The Big Society Network

 ‘The Wonderbox is a treasury of history and philosophy that manages also to be truly, practically motivational.’ John-Paul Flintoff, author of Sew Your Own News

 

Coverage

 Why do we spend so much of our precious holiday time queueing up to see famous artworks and monuments, even if we’re not that interested in them? Roman talks about my ideas on alternative ways to travel in this feature on the BBC World television programme Fast Track. There’s also an accompanying article on five ways to make our holidays a life-changing experience.

 So you think the superdad who can change nappies blind-folded is a modern invention? Not so, they’ve been around for hundreds of years, Roman argues in The Guardian.

 In this podcast interview with Pat Kenny on RTE Radio 1 in Ireland, Roman discusses – amongst other things – Henry David Thoreau’s idea that ‘a man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone’.

 Why do we need to start talking about Deathstyle? Discover the answer in this interview for BBC Radio Scotland’s Book Cafe.

 What might we learn about life from an eighteenth-century feminist firebrand and a wandering Zen poet? In this article in The Huffington Post – based on The Wonderbox – Roman profiles his Five Icons for Better Living in 2012.

 Is 2012 the year for a digital diet? In this article in The Independent on Sunday Roman discusses whether social media is killing the art of conversation (with a little help from Dr Johnson, the most disastrous conversationalist in British history).

 An interview at The Browser, where Roman talks about five books to inspire adventurous living in 2012 – and which inspired The Wonderbox too. From tales of tramping the streets of East London to life lessons from a Holocaust survivor.

 In this podcast for BBC History Magazine Roman discusses The Wonderbox, and what we can learn about the good life from Aka pygmies, nineteenth-century organists and even Spanish conquistadors. And why did Goethe say, ‘he who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth’?

 In the following video, The Six Varieties of Love, Roman reveals why the Ancient Greeks were far more sophisticated in the art of loving than we are today, and argues that we need to get over our addiction to romantic love. Recorded live at All Ears storytelling club in London.