Michael Foley
Michael Foley is a bestselling popular philosophy author and published poet and novelist. He has published critically-acclaimed poetry, novels, and non-fiction, including The Age of Absurdity, which was a bestseller and has been translated into seven languages.
Biography
Michael Foley is a bestselling popular philosophy author and published poet and novelist.
He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, but has lived most of his adult life in London. He has published critically-acclaimed poetry, novels and non-fiction, including The Age of Absurdity (Simon & Schuster 2010), which was a bestseller and has been translated into seven languages.
Why has dressing up become such an obsession? In particular, why do so many want to dress as zombies? Why are swinger clubs and BDSM so popular? Why is much of the younger generation covered in tattoos? Why have dance events, festivals and stand-up comedy clubs proliferated? Why, when spending on holidays plummeted after the crash of 2008, did spending on cruises continue to rise? Why has football become the world sport when it seemed in terminal decline a few decades ago? Why has fun become such a crucial feature of serious movements, from radical protest on the left to evangelical Christianity on the right? And why did most of these developments begin in the seventies? Why the seventies?
Michael Foley answers these questions and others by arguing that fun is about much more than mere hedonism and has developed to satisfy contemporary needs – especially for the satisfactions of group involvement (it is possible to have pleasure alone but fun is social) but also for experience, comedy, play, authenticity and transgression. Fun can even be a quasi-religious provider of meaning. And fun can be the basis for a new form of snobbery, with the fun rich displaying their fun wealth on social media. Drawing on history, anthropology, literature, philosophy and science, Michael Foley explains why these needs have become pressing and how fun attempts to satisfy them. Far from being simple and frivolous, fun is complex and serous, with many tasks to accomplish. No wonder fun is often more work than work.
Books
His first book, THE AGE OF ABSURDITY: WHY MODERN LIFE MAKES IT HARD TO BE HAPPY (Simon and Schuster, 2011) is a wry and accessible investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. A critical and commercial success, it has been translated into 7 languages.
This was followed by EMBRACING THE ORDINARY: LESSONS FROM THE CHAMPIONS OF EVERYDAY LIFE, (Simon & Schuster, 2013), and LIFE LESSONS FROM BERGSON (Macmillan, 2013), part of the philosophy series for The School of Life, which focuses on important thinkers and philosophers, placing them in context and demonstrating their relevance for today.
In his book, ISN'T THIS FUN? (Simon & Schuster, 2016), Michael Foley wants to know why he doesn't appear to be experiencing as much fun as everyone else. So, with characteristic wit and humour, he sets out to understand what fun really means to us and why we need it. He looks into its heritage and its cultural significance to discover that fun has a serious side: it satisfies a range of basic human needs that are particularly important for contemporary society.
