This brilliant new book from the author of Nickel & Dimed & Bait & Switch explores the tyranny of positive thinking & offers a history of how it came to be the dominant mode in the USA. Ehrenreich conceived of the book when she became ill with breast cancer & found herself surrounded by pink ribbons & platitudes. She balked at the way her anger about having the disease was seen as unhealthy & dangerous by health professionals & other sufferers. In her droll & incisive analysis of the cult of cheerfulness Ehrenreich ranges across contemporary religion business & the economy arguing for example that undue optimism & a fear of giving bad news sowed the seeds for the current banking crisis. She argues passionately that the insistence on being cheerful actually leads to a lonely focus inwards a blaming of oneself for any misfortunes & thus to political apathy. Rigorous insightful & bracing as always & also incredibly funny Smile or Die" uncovers the dark side of the have a nice day nation."