It's Great to Suck at Something

The Unexpected Joy of Wiping Out and What It Can Teach Us About Patience, Resilience, and the Stuff that Really Matters

By: Karen Rinaldi

Narrated by: Karen Rinaldi

Discover how the freedom of sucking at something can help you build resilience, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the pursuit rather than the goal with this “wholly original work that is destined to become a classic” (Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

When was the last time you tried something new? Something that won’t make you more productive, make you more money, or check anything off your to-do list? Something you’re really, really bad at, but that brought you joy?

Odds are, not recently. We live in a time of aspirational psychoses. We humblebrag about how hard we work and we prioritize productivity over happiness. Even kids don’t play for the sake of playing anymore: they’re building blocks to build the ideal college application. We’re told to be the best or nothing at all. We’re trapped in an epic and farcical quest for perfection and it’s all making us more anxious and depressed than ever.

This book provides the antidote. (It’s Great to) Suck at Something “shows how joy and growth come from risking failure and letting go of perfectionism” (The Wall Street Journal). Drawing on her personal experience sucking at surfing (a sport Karen Rinaldi’s dedicated nearly two decades of her life to doing without ever coming close to getting good at it) along with philosophy, literature, and the latest science, Rinaldi explores sucking as a lost art we must reclaim for our health and our sanity and helps us find the way to our own riotous suck-ability. Sucking at something rewires our brain in positive ways, helps us cultivate grit, and inspires us to find joy in the process, without obsessing about the destination. Ultimately, it gives you freedom: the freedom to suck without caring is revelatory.

Coupling honest, hilarious storytelling with unexpected insights, this “thought-provoking, engaging examination…explains how our lives are more satisfying and rich when we give ourselves the opportunity to experiment, struggle, and play” (Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project).

Enjoyable and insightful

Beautiful blend of story telling and valuable life lessons. Very enjoyable to listen to, and will make you think about what you can try and suck at!

Painful to listen to

Couldn't finish. Loved the concept. Still do. But the author could have sounded a bit conversational. Using curse words with zero emotion..... what's the point in even using them? ya know?

Better than you think.

A very freeing honest look at life's struggles. It provides the push to be courageous about things we love but may not be good at. The author's personal story of her own struggles with learning how to surf provide ample metaphors for the life lessons she provides. A surprisingly non sucky book a out our sucky lives.

Could not finish

I wanted to like this but could not get very far. Tried a few times....

I thought this book sucked

I really like the argument that as a culture we are too focused on being great at things. The idea that we have to be exceptional can lead to a society of people where people are afraid to try new things. I didn’t like how many times I had to listen to the author say “suck”. Maybe reading the book is better, but I couldn’t get through the first chapter as an audio book. The premise is good but the delivery felt juvenile.