FLOURISH

Seligman’s career as a behavioral scientist and administrator imprints this sprawling book with the ethos of a dedicated academic pioneer. It’s as much about the methodology and history of the positive psychology movement as it is about the how-to of personal growth. But it’s a stimulating reminder, nonetheless, that we have more control over our subjective well-being than we think. Describing how his methods have been applied to soldiers, athletes, and others, he says that feeling happy and fulfilled requires the cultivation of positive emotions, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and accomplishments. Compared to the two painfully slow sections read by the author, Jesse Boggs’s performance gets the job done with a minimum of fussiness. Material this dry and esoteric, however, would have benefited from a performance with more energy or personality. T.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2012]