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Wise Up: Irreverent Enlightenment from a Mother Who's Been Through It
A New York Times bestselling author shares wryly funny and heartwarming lessons on life, motherhood, and python attacks.
Named one of Oprah Daily’s 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2022
From becoming an iconic MTV VJ to starring in Dumb and Dumber to being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, Karen Duffy has been through a lot. But it was only when she became a mother that she realized she had some pretty solid life lessons to pass down. In her new book, she offers advice on building a friend group that is weasel free, finding the love of your life, and determining how much to tip the waiter (as with everything—be generous!). With dry humor and maternal warmth, she shows how we all can learn from unexpected philosophers, even from Bulgarian dancing bears. There are times in life when we should turn to the wisdom of great thinkers. And there are times when you need the kind of enlightenment that only a former Coney Island Mermaid Queen can give. Wise Up offers wisecracks—and some profound insights—in a unique book of parental inspiration.
Named one of Oprah Daily’s 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2022
From becoming an iconic MTV VJ to starring in Dumb and Dumber to being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, Karen Duffy has been through a lot. But it was only when she became a mother that she realized she had some pretty solid life lessons to pass down. In her new book, she offers advice on building a friend group that is weasel free, finding the love of your life, and determining how much to tip the waiter (as with everything—be generous!). With dry humor and maternal warmth, she shows how we all can learn from unexpected philosophers, even from Bulgarian dancing bears. There are times in life when we should turn to the wisdom of great thinkers. And there are times when you need the kind of enlightenment that only a former Coney Island Mermaid Queen can give. Wise Up offers wisecracks—and some profound insights—in a unique book of parental inspiration.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published April 12, 2022
16 people are currently reading
1808 people want to read
About the author
Karen Duffy
20 books46 followersKaren Duffy a former model, television personality, bestselling author and actress.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 10, 2022
This book made me laugh and I learned some things from it that I didn't even know I wanted to learn, including a surprising amount about bears. Duff is a treasure trove of useless information and funny anecdotes that she magically transforms into philosophical / self-improvement gold. It's great to see ancient Greek philosophical wisdom, such as Stoicism, being given a new lease of life in this way. Epictetus would be proud.
December 5, 2022
The book's thesis is based on a Stoic philosopher named Epictetus, who said if you make beautiful choices, you will make a beautiful life. This book is a series of letters the author wrote to her son Jack, where the reader feels invited in for a conversation. The chapters and stories are thoughtfully arranged around the principles of the Stoics. Finally, the book appropriately ends with Jack's sweet and funny letter to his mom, reminding us that it's our job to parent our children until they go out into the world on their own.
This book is definitely a gift to the world and readers. It poses a question to the reader, which is this question, how does a person live a good life? I laughed. I cried. And I learned so much about how to do precisely that. The author advises building a friend group, finding the love of your life, and determining how much to tip. She shows how we can learn from unexpected philosophers and also manages to throw in some humor and a boatload of obscure facts.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
This book is definitely a gift to the world and readers. It poses a question to the reader, which is this question, how does a person live a good life? I laughed. I cried. And I learned so much about how to do precisely that. The author advises building a friend group, finding the love of your life, and determining how much to tip. She shows how we can learn from unexpected philosophers and also manages to throw in some humor and a boatload of obscure facts.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
November 4, 2022
This is a great book for picking up a little bit of wisdom here and there. It was something I could set down and come back to and still feel satiated by reading a chapter every now and then. I enjoyed the format of each chapter being a letter written to Duffy’s son, Jack.
Overall, I really appreciated the author’s stoic wisdom. I thought she had some great life lessons and advice to share. I also thought she did a great job researching the topics she covered and incorporating the stories of other people to support her piece of advice and not just her own experiences. My favorite chapter was probably the one on friendship, at least that was the one I related to the most. Although I don’t have children (it’s marketed as a parenting book), I still thought this was an entertaining and useful read.
Overall, I really appreciated the author’s stoic wisdom. I thought she had some great life lessons and advice to share. I also thought she did a great job researching the topics she covered and incorporating the stories of other people to support her piece of advice and not just her own experiences. My favorite chapter was probably the one on friendship, at least that was the one I related to the most. Although I don’t have children (it’s marketed as a parenting book), I still thought this was an entertaining and useful read.
April 16, 2022
Bought Wise Up to read to my son after hearing about it on Oprah's 50 Most Anticipated Books List. It's a heartwarming, and humor-filled joy to read. The stoic wisdom is artfully accompanied by some fantastic illustrations (which are of course my son's favorite part). Highly recommend it if you're looking for a book both you and your kiddos can enjoy and learn from together.
April 26, 2022
I love Duff’s perspective on parenting and life. She is funny and wise and thoughtful. Format with sketches and arcane info was cool, too.
April 22, 2022
I loved this book. Set up as a series of letter from a mother to her son, but secretly a funny jaunt through the basics of stoic philosophy and linguistics. This might be the first book I've ever read that I can't think of a "genre box" to put it in. Definitely put it on your list!
April 20, 2022
This book made me laugh, think, and cry. It made me cherish and reflect on my relationship with my parents and all they do for us. It has the perfect mix of stoicism and how we can use it to improve our lives today. A great read!!!!!
June 20, 2022
Book Review- Wise Up: Irreverent Enlightenment From A Mother Who’s Been Through It by Karen Duffy
Wise Up is part memoir, part advice and part explanation of Stoic wisdom and philosophy and told through letters to Duffy’s son Jack. Karen Duffy is a former MTV VJ, actress, producer and writer.
Wise Up is a difficult book to describe so I’ll do the best I can in this review. Of course, I had heard of Karen Duffy because of her appearances on MTV in the 90’s and I always admired her style and New York “cool girl” demeanor. To be honest, I really wanted to look as good as she did in a chin length bob and to go with George Clooney to events. So here we both are with me in my *very* late 40’s and Karen newly turned 60. We are both parents of an only child and trying to pass on our history, values and knowledge while we are here. Karen wrote this book as a series of letters to Jack. It’s a mix of her own personal history, teachings of the great philosophers and bits of pop culture and fun facts (see what I mean about a difficult book to categorize?) plus some fun cartoons. Using the teachings of different philosophers, poets and world cultures Duffy highlights different ways to approach life and love. I found the passages about doing the most good and living a fulfilling life truly inspiring. There were also a lot of lessons about living fearlessly, cutting loose toxic people (compared to weasels) and the different types of love we have for each other. I believe that different readers will find unique passages that apply to them. There are so many stories about real people that I had never heard of that I now carry their lessons in my head. I honestly believe it's a book you can keep nearby and read over and over highlighting different passages.
I highly recommend this timely and humorous book of life lessons and I look forward to reading more from Karen Duffy.
**I listened to both the audiobook (narrated by Karen and Frances Gaspirini) plus referred to the print copy as well. Thank you Seal Press for my copy of Wise Up: Irreverent Enlightenment From A Mother Who’s Been Through It by Karen Duffy
Wise Up is part memoir, part advice and part explanation of Stoic wisdom and philosophy and told through letters to Duffy’s son Jack. Karen Duffy is a former MTV VJ, actress, producer and writer.
Wise Up is a difficult book to describe so I’ll do the best I can in this review. Of course, I had heard of Karen Duffy because of her appearances on MTV in the 90’s and I always admired her style and New York “cool girl” demeanor. To be honest, I really wanted to look as good as she did in a chin length bob and to go with George Clooney to events. So here we both are with me in my *very* late 40’s and Karen newly turned 60. We are both parents of an only child and trying to pass on our history, values and knowledge while we are here. Karen wrote this book as a series of letters to Jack. It’s a mix of her own personal history, teachings of the great philosophers and bits of pop culture and fun facts (see what I mean about a difficult book to categorize?) plus some fun cartoons. Using the teachings of different philosophers, poets and world cultures Duffy highlights different ways to approach life and love. I found the passages about doing the most good and living a fulfilling life truly inspiring. There were also a lot of lessons about living fearlessly, cutting loose toxic people (compared to weasels) and the different types of love we have for each other. I believe that different readers will find unique passages that apply to them. There are so many stories about real people that I had never heard of that I now carry their lessons in my head. I honestly believe it's a book you can keep nearby and read over and over highlighting different passages.
I highly recommend this timely and humorous book of life lessons and I look forward to reading more from Karen Duffy.
**I listened to both the audiobook (narrated by Karen and Frances Gaspirini) plus referred to the print copy as well. Thank you Seal Press for my copy of Wise Up: Irreverent Enlightenment From A Mother Who’s Been Through It by Karen Duffy
December 12, 2025
Stoicism is relatively unique in that it doesn't promote a dogma, and doesn't rely upon memorized maxims. Indeed we are told to get beyond such things, internalize it, and learn to use it in our own way, growing with it as it grows with us.
Wise Up has some of Karen Duffy's take on the philosophy, presented in epistolatory format addressed to her son, along with stories of her life. She present Duff's Stoicism, how it has helped her get through life's difficulties, and helped her appreciate the wonderful things she has in her life.
As a student of philosophy, I think hearing her take on things is important. It brings life to something that needs to be alive, and helps give me new perspectives to consider in material I have read dozens of times.
Wise Up has some of Karen Duffy's take on the philosophy, presented in epistolatory format addressed to her son, along with stories of her life. She present Duff's Stoicism, how it has helped her get through life's difficulties, and helped her appreciate the wonderful things she has in her life.
As a student of philosophy, I think hearing her take on things is important. It brings life to something that needs to be alive, and helps give me new perspectives to consider in material I have read dozens of times.
April 13, 2022
As a parent, I found this book pretty irresistible, both in its arguments and its presentation. It's a breezy, light-hearted trip through the serious territory of classical stoicism, as exemplified by Epictetus. It's loaded up with goofy sidebars and illustrations, tales of the stupid, meditations on life and parenthood, all couched as letters from mother to son. Even that approach calls back to the original stoics, who put down a lot of their philosophy in letter form. Stoicism is not just being tough, it's a whole design for thought and living that the modern world can really benefit from. I really enjoyed it, bit made me laugh but also was enlightening, as noted in the title.
May 7, 2022
I liked how well this was written . As I was reading this it made me happy and wanted to read more of it . I think this is a great read and anybody who is interested in a great story should read this book .
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May 30, 2022I heard a tip to give a book 100 pages minus your age at the time. I made it to page 63…
October 6, 2022
I need this book urgently in PDF. Can anyone help me? It's my humble request.
September 29, 2023
Stoicism + parenting. Great book! I highly recommend it.
October 3, 2023
DNF - Got into the 4th chapter but it wasn't clicking. Seemed to be mostly about Stoic philosophy and how she applies it to her life?
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews