Book Review: Delivering Happiness

by ANNIE on June 21, 2010

Phew, has the buzz about this book been a bit crazy or what!? I’m not sure if it’s author Tony Hsieh’s frequent and awe-inspiring talks that are catching everyone’s attention or the fact that shopping on Zappos.com is just plain fun. Either way, I enjoyed the book that shares the story of how the two came together: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and PurposeObjectively, the book takes up an average-in-size 241 pages, not including the Epilogue and Online Resources. I found the cover art, frankly, kind of cluttered and annoying. And the quality of the writing? It was…ok. Pretty terrible in the beginning when Tony’s describing his childhood and early business ventures, improving a smidge later on when Zappos comes into the picture. Generally, it’s pretty fluffy reading. I read the entire book in two medium-ish sittings.

On the surface, Delivering Happiness gets an “ehh” rating.

But – and this is a BIG but, as in, MASSIVE and THEY DON’T LIE – upon closing the back cover and setting the book down, I wanted to be a better person.

I wanted to be a happier person.

In other words? Read it.

And that’s all there is to say about that.

P.S. The awesome folks on the Delivering Happiness Book Team graciously sent me 2 pre-release copies of DH. Thanks, DHBook team! I can only hope to have a team with a fraction of the excitement, caring, and connectedness when I release a book someday. (ahem) Cheers!

  • Dave Jackson
    Yikes! Fluffy? Sad? And then you hope they'll give you props when you release your book. Honestly, I'm not as connected as you, but only heard a bit about the book. It didn't seem as hyped as some. I am so grateful there are quality companies such as Zappos that do give a flip to deliver and know that really, deep down inside, we're clicking and ordering happiness from their website... and not another pair of shoes.
  • Annie
    I sense sarcasm. :)

    So what about you, Dave - do you think you'll pick up Delivering Happiness based on what you've heard? What're you reading at the moment?
  • Dave Jackson
    Hehe... I may. One of my favorite books is Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days. It's interesting to try to note what tipped people to either go all the way or give up early. Fascinating. Right now I'm reading Hippocrates Health Program, a little book on everything from growing your own wheatgrass how food affects our lives. Fun stuff.
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