Ruby Wax - And Now For the Good News...

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First published by Penguin Life in 2020

Copyright Ruby Wax, 2020

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Cover lettering by David Wardle

ISBN: 978-0-241-40067-8

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Id like to thank my kids, Maddy, Marina and Max, for not running away from me and Ed for not filing for divorce.

Also, I kiss the feet of Joanna Bowen, who absorbs my rantings and somehow strings them together into sentences.

Thank you to my smart and gorgeous publisher, Venetia Butterfield, and my smart and gorgeous agent, Caroline Michel.

In case youve just opened this book and are thinking, is she insane? How can she write a book about the good news when the world has faced Covid-19, the worst disaster since the Plague? Is it some kind of macabre joke or has she been in a coma? Let me explain. I began writing this in 2018 when the world was still anxious about the climate, bankers, kids exam results, refugees and whether the fifty shades of grey nail colour was still in fashion? These are still big issues but now were facing something beyond imagination. Maybe Mother Nature has finally said, Enough already. Anyway, you will notice I dont mention Covid-19 and thats because I finished this book around the time it broke; so mea culpa. But read on, it will give you hope when I give you the good news which is still out there.

Dear Reader,

Can I be honest? As far as fixing the world is concerned, I have no idea. Im not an expert on fixing worlds.

Im dyslexic so I get confused what letters stand for: IS, BLT, AA, BUPA (theyre all the same to me). I usually cant tell who the good or bad guys are. Cowboys and Indians was the last time I could distinguish sides and then I rooted for the Indians look what happened there.

When it comes to politics, economics, legislation and what the G8 summit does, I know nothing, except I do know that Davos has fantastic skiing. What I also know is that the world isnt as bad as weve been bitching about and from researching this book Ive managed to find exactly where the good news lives; where green shoots of hope are peeping through the soil of civilization and may just bloom into a brighter future. My mission is to tantalize you out of the negativity zone and to paint a smiley over your doomsday face. Im here to tell you, behind the clouds, the sun still shines.

We dont need to start packing now to go to Mars. Sorry, Mr Musk.

Love, Ruby

You might be wondering how I can write about the future when no one knows or has ever known what it is, from the ancient soothsayers (probably reading pig entrails) to modern-day academic futurologists who know jack shit.

When I say the future I dont mean fifty or even twenty years from now. The future Im talking about is your next breath. Even as I type this word, by the time I get to the end of the sentence (which Im not at yet) thats the future. Okay, Im at the end of the sentence, but now the future moved ahead again. You can never catch up with it, thats the only thing guaranteed its always in front somewhere.