Happiness explained : what human flourishing is and what we can do to promote it /

This slight book by an Oxford-related economist may be a helpful introduction for beginners to the current state of happiness research. Anand is especially helpful on the studies in economics, balancing the heavy influence that psychology has in the field. However, his research summaries are vague and mixed. Moreover, the book is lacking as an academic source, even for undergraduates. It has no footnotes, and the author's infrequent mentions of even the names of the researchers he is summarizing is not always followed up with a citation in the references section. The essay reads more like the script to a much-extended PowerPoint presentation. Not for academic libraries. Summing Up: Optional. Public libraries only. --Beau Weston, Centre College