Why Not Me? Finessing Life's Slings and Arrows

The 40 short essays in Why Not Me? show how to live a fulfilling, meaningful life in a universe that wasn't designed to ensure human happiness. A common response to tragedy is, "Why me?" Ironically, those who grasp that unfairness and misfortune are inevitable parts of life often experience more gratitude and happiness for the many good things that do come their way.

In clear, accessible words, Rev. Donald Wheat unfolds his humanist philosophy. The book draws psychological, political, ecological and comedic insights from such varied individuals as Malcolm X and Malcolm McDowell, Friedrich Nietzsche and Fredrick Douglass, Karl Marx and Carl Sagan, Emily Dickinson and Oscar Wilde, W.H. Auden and M.L. King, George Carlin and Cornel West, Mahatma Gandhi and Ken Kesey, Simon Wiesenthal and Maureen Dowd, and Margaret Sanger and Lenny Bruce.

The best revenge for an often-unfair life is to live fully and courageously, nurturing others and promoting justice. "If no one is looking after us," Wheat concludes, "then we must look after each other. We have resolved to be more just and more loving than what has been given to us. This is man's greatness. And it is enough."