Wax - Sane new world: a users guide to the normal-crazy mind

PRAISE FOR SANE NEW WORLD

The United States has for too long been deprived of one of our greatest comic talentsthe inimitable Ruby Wax. In this book, she puts her hilarity in service of the important message that we can change our own minds to live better lives. Her disquisition will be wonderfully helpful to those whose minds need changing, and wonderfully entertaining to everyone else.

Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree

Ruby Wax offers a fresh and revealing insiders view of how the potential torments of everyday life can be eased as we train our minds to enable our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors to become more stable and adaptive. As a spokesperson for the power of mindful awareness, our humorous and forthright guide offers up a unique blend of personal experience and academic education to inspire us to enhance the health of our bodies, our minds, and our relationships.

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of Brainstorm

Ruby Wax is brave, generous, and hilariousthe perfect guide on a tour of the brain and how its workings affect our overall well-being. And she is passionate about our collective need to tap into the power of mindfulness to help still our minds in an age of speed, hyperconnectivity, and distraction.

Arianna Huffington, New York Times bestselling author of Thrive

Ruby Wax is at her best in this wonderful book. Its acute observations are both extremely funny and deeply moving. Many people will be grateful for her courage, openness, humor, and wisdom.

Mark Williams, author of Mindfulness

Finallya map for the troubled human mind. And its funny.

Caitlin Moran, author of How to Be a Woman

Through humor and unbridled truth, Ruby Wax shares her journey to mindfulness, illuminating how it can improve our state of mind and change our brain for a healthier, happier life.

Goldie Hawn, New York Times bestselling author of 10 Mindful Minutes

Ruby Wax has an extraordinary mind, and she has brought it to bear with trademark wit and searing honesty on the subject of that mind and the minds of all of us. Very few will be able to read this wonderful contribution to the literature of mental health without recognizing some part of themselves and certainly of someone they know. A ruby beyond price.

Stephen Fry

I love this book more than I love Ruby. And thats saying quite a bit... in a loud, funny voice. Yes... I love this book. And I know books. And I know love. And Rubys book is both.

Carrie Fisher

A very funny book about how to be calm and poised and not bonkers.

Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Joness Diary

Wonderful, painfully funny, and instructive.

Allison Pearson, author of I Dont Know How She Does It

I was both amused and educated by Ruby Waxs self-help look at our brains, and the ways theyre out to get us, and what we can do about it. Shes a smart and funny writer on a mission to help us help ourselves. I was impressed.

Neil Gaiman

Witty, wise, and thought-provoking.

Nigella Lawson

A PERIGEE BOOK

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Copyright 2013 by Ruby Wax

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wax, Ruby, date.

Sane new world : a users guide to the normal-crazy mind / Ruby Wax.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-698-15923-5

1. Mind and body. 2. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. 1. Title.

BF161 W24 2014 2014016530

158.1dc23

First American edition: November 2014

Originally published in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton in 2013.

Illustrations by Serge Seidlitz

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters from Theres a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery by Portia Nelson. Reprinted with the permission of Beyond Words/Atria Publishing Group. Copyright 1993 by Portia Nelson. All rights reserved.

The Guest House by Jalal al-Din Rumi translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne from The Essential Rumi 2004, reprinted by permission of Coleman Barks.

Illustrations by Serge Seidlitz reprinted by permission of Dbut Art Ltd, London.

Neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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To Ed, Max, Marina, and Maddy