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Simple Steps to a Life Less Shitty
The sequel to the indie press bestseller The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin’ Sad, Adam Gnade’s pocketsize book Simple Steps to a Life Less Shitty is a roadmap and a compass to assist you in navigating the utter bullshit of life in the modern age. Simple Steps is a book that says, “Life is inherently frustrating, sad, and painful. Here are some ways to deal with it and not be such a fucking mess all the time.” These realistic tips, pep-talks, lists, and short essays are free of mindless positivity and empty, shallow platitudes. Instead, the reader is given usable ideas, practical advice, and workable solutions. A book to pick up when it feels as if you can’t catch a break or do anything right, this is a toolkit for the dark days.
70 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2014
118 people want to read
About the author
Adam Gnade
23 books142 followersAdam Gnade’s (guh nah dee) work is released as a series of books and "talking songs" that share characters and themes; the fiction writing continuing plot-lines left open by the self-described “talking songs” in an attempt to compile a vast, detailed, interconnected, personal history of contemporary American life. His books and "talking records" are released by Bread & Roses Press and Three One G.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 19, 2015
Today, whilst sitting with one of my favorite people, I read this book aloud. Initially my friend read it first actually, but I picked it up after she started unpacking her apartment.
It was beautiful, also wonderful to read aloud. It is short enough to do so in one sitting and perfect for a pair of good friends to enjoy together and make teary-moon-eyes at each other over the trueness of the advice. It is real and wonderful and well worth a read.
It was beautiful, also wonderful to read aloud. It is short enough to do so in one sitting and perfect for a pair of good friends to enjoy together and make teary-moon-eyes at each other over the trueness of the advice. It is real and wonderful and well worth a read.
June 25, 2023
probably a 3.5. i enjoyed it, and they were all good reminders.
January 31, 2024
I loved Gnade's "Guide to Fighting the Big Mother##cking Sad" and this follow-up didn't disappoint. Like Stephen Marche's On Writing and Failure, Gnade's offer of the grim facts with a pronounced lack of BS is 100 times more encouraging than any forced positivity. I highly recommend it if you're a creative with a propensity to doubt yourself (Hi, Everyone!). Plus, you can keep it in your back pocket.
December 19, 2020
Overall a good and uplifting book. Writing style would have appealed to me much more when I was 19. Still, it's really honest, and it helps hearing from someone who experiences similar struggles.
November 25, 2022
Really nice read, I think it shines more when it gets more personal and detailed, when Adam gets inspired he can paint a beautiful picture for you.
May 14, 2023
Fondly purchased at Downtown Books and News in Asheville
March 28, 2024
More good thoughts on fighting Major Depression.
August 6, 2015
I woke up early this morning with Jodi, and rather than going back to sleep decided to make a cup of coffee and start reading Simple Steps to a Life Less Shitty. I’ve been carrying it around so long I started rubbing the print off the cover, but I’ve been keeping myself so busy that it never made it out of my bag. This morning, I sat in bed with my cup of instant espresso and started reading it. Right away I was reminded about how I need lists. I know I need lists. I work better when I have them. But somehow I got out of the habit of using them. Adam reminded me that I need to get back to that because, as he put it,
"I make lists because without the structure of lists I have no direction and waste time worrying about what to do next and I blunder into a lot of stupid mistakes and forget things. I've got one of those worthless selective memories where I can remember a lot of minor details that work to your advantage when you're writing fiction but can't keep my daily responsibilities together to save my life."
Also this morning, I couldn’t find the little post it flags that I normally use to mark important sections in books. I don’t often write in books anymore, but I made an exception this morning and marked up a couple important reminders.
Another sentence I underlined was, “Once you start looking for a better life things will immediately get tough.” It’s been a tough couple years for Jodi and I, and we are looking and planning and working for a better life. It’s reassuring to know that it’s not just us that are being put through the ringer, that perhaps it’s just something that happens when you start making changes in your life.
I was trying to get through the whole thing before I got out of bed, but about halfway through I was just feeling too inspired to stay in bed anymore. I got up, got dressed and got to work. Without a list, I had trouble figuring out where to start, but decided to finish up a cabinet I started working on weeks ago. (Finishing stuff is always a good place to start)
Simple Steps… also inspired me NOT to turn on my computer when I got up. I have a tendency to flip it open first thing, but this morning I decided I was going to work with my hands until I left for work. I got quite a bit done in the hour or so before I had to leave. I finished reading Simple Steps… outside during my lunch break. Then I came back in and wrote about fixing up that cabinet.
Adam’s ‘personal care’ writings tend to inspire me. They make me feel like I can get stuff done. Like the things that drag me down aren’t as bad as I think they are. Or perhaps that they’re plenty bad, but that they’re not going to stop me from going at life wholeheartedly. They make me feel like real life is possible, not the watered down life too many of us resign ourselves to. I feel like I’m pretty good at getting pleasure out of the small things, but Simple Steps… is a good reminder. It’s also a reminder that people who treat you badly are dealing with their own shit, and though you shouldn’t let them abuse you, you can perhaps understand where they’re coming from.
Simple Steps to Life Less Shitty is a mix of inspiring stories, and self-care advice… often in list format. How to get to sleep when you can’t. How to be alone. When not to be alone. It’s a great follow-up to the Do-it-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin’ SAD.
"I make lists because without the structure of lists I have no direction and waste time worrying about what to do next and I blunder into a lot of stupid mistakes and forget things. I've got one of those worthless selective memories where I can remember a lot of minor details that work to your advantage when you're writing fiction but can't keep my daily responsibilities together to save my life."
Also this morning, I couldn’t find the little post it flags that I normally use to mark important sections in books. I don’t often write in books anymore, but I made an exception this morning and marked up a couple important reminders.
Another sentence I underlined was, “Once you start looking for a better life things will immediately get tough.” It’s been a tough couple years for Jodi and I, and we are looking and planning and working for a better life. It’s reassuring to know that it’s not just us that are being put through the ringer, that perhaps it’s just something that happens when you start making changes in your life.
I was trying to get through the whole thing before I got out of bed, but about halfway through I was just feeling too inspired to stay in bed anymore. I got up, got dressed and got to work. Without a list, I had trouble figuring out where to start, but decided to finish up a cabinet I started working on weeks ago. (Finishing stuff is always a good place to start)
Simple Steps… also inspired me NOT to turn on my computer when I got up. I have a tendency to flip it open first thing, but this morning I decided I was going to work with my hands until I left for work. I got quite a bit done in the hour or so before I had to leave. I finished reading Simple Steps… outside during my lunch break. Then I came back in and wrote about fixing up that cabinet.
Adam’s ‘personal care’ writings tend to inspire me. They make me feel like I can get stuff done. Like the things that drag me down aren’t as bad as I think they are. Or perhaps that they’re plenty bad, but that they’re not going to stop me from going at life wholeheartedly. They make me feel like real life is possible, not the watered down life too many of us resign ourselves to. I feel like I’m pretty good at getting pleasure out of the small things, but Simple Steps… is a good reminder. It’s also a reminder that people who treat you badly are dealing with their own shit, and though you shouldn’t let them abuse you, you can perhaps understand where they’re coming from.
Simple Steps to Life Less Shitty is a mix of inspiring stories, and self-care advice… often in list format. How to get to sleep when you can’t. How to be alone. When not to be alone. It’s a great follow-up to the Do-it-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin’ SAD.
November 27, 2016
A second helping of punk rock life coaching.
This zine is a companion piece to "The Do It Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin' Sad," and as such will appeal to everybody who enjoyed the first installment. If you're not familiar with it, or Gnade, here's what you're getting: descriptions of the author's personal experiences battling depression, sharing the techniques that worked for him, and describing life on his farm, and a lot of motivating quotes that are actually motivational, in a punk rock kind of way. The tone is tough-love gruff, but the kindness and passion underneath are genuine, and you get the sense that Gnade, for all his struggles is truly living the life he wants to live, and is willing to pay the sometimes steep price for consciously stepping outside of contemporary society.
On the whole, the advice is good, and many readers will find the descriptions of farm life appealing. Recommended for all zine libraries, public and academic, as an example of what's best about the format. As with "Big Motherfuckin' Sad," I highly encourage you get your own copu. Get two, in fact. Support a small press. Pass one on to a friend.
This zine is a companion piece to "The Do It Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin' Sad," and as such will appeal to everybody who enjoyed the first installment. If you're not familiar with it, or Gnade, here's what you're getting: descriptions of the author's personal experiences battling depression, sharing the techniques that worked for him, and describing life on his farm, and a lot of motivating quotes that are actually motivational, in a punk rock kind of way. The tone is tough-love gruff, but the kindness and passion underneath are genuine, and you get the sense that Gnade, for all his struggles is truly living the life he wants to live, and is willing to pay the sometimes steep price for consciously stepping outside of contemporary society.
On the whole, the advice is good, and many readers will find the descriptions of farm life appealing. Recommended for all zine libraries, public and academic, as an example of what's best about the format. As with "Big Motherfuckin' Sad," I highly encourage you get your own copu. Get two, in fact. Support a small press. Pass one on to a friend.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews