October 2, 2009

We’ll take as much bliss as we can get this year

By Dateline staff

Looking for a cure for the budget blues? Try this blue paperback: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, this year’s Campus Community Book Project.

“It’s what I would consider ‘lighter’ compared to the heavier topics of previous books,” Mikael Villalobos said for a Feb. 23 Dateline article on the book’s selection. Villalobos is book project coordinator for the Office of Campus Community Relations.

Eric Weiner’s best-selling book grew out of his work as a journalist for National Public Radio. “When you are sent on assignment ... you see some of the least happy places, and least happy people in the world,” he told Dateline.

“I got tired of focusing on the unhappy places in the world, I wanted to use my skills as a journalist and a traveler to find out where the happiest places in the world are.”

Committee members felt a book like this was just what the campus needs.

And, so, over the next couple of months, many students will be reading the book as part of their coursework, and staff and faculty are encouraged to read it, too. And everyone is encouraged to talk about and get involved in the project and its wide assortment of programs, most of them free.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Campus Community Book Project, coordinated by the Office of Campus Community Relations.

THE BOOK: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, available at the UC Davis bookstore at the discounted price of $9.95.

THE SCHEDULE: Programs, art shows, film, book discussion and author's visit.

MORE INFORMATION