80,000+ Books in-stock in NZ 📚

King’s Birthday Sale starts early! Up to 20% off books, games & toys 👑

The Life You Want

Brief Description
From acclaimed psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, a meditation on how to achieve the lives we want. Where do we get ideas about the lives we want? And what do we do — and fail to do — about actually getting them? In The Life You Want, Adam... Read More
Format: Hardback
$5000
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From acclaimed psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, a meditation on how to achieve the lives we want.

Where do we get ideas about the lives we want? And what do we do — and fail to do — about actually getting them?

In The Life You Want, Adam Phillips uses psychoanalytic and literary approaches to show that we are obsessed with the idea of our lives being ones we want and enjoy rather than merely endure, tolerate, or make the most of.

Through a series of interlinked essays, Phillips explores the difficulties we have around the whole idea of enjoying — and fashioning — our lives in cultures that insistently promote enjoyment while making it very difficult for so many people. Exploring the personal and political overlap in the issue of our lives, The Life You Want is a profound examination of our ambivalence about enjoyment, and indeed, wanting.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241766118

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 29 January 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Hamish Hamilton Ltd

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 142.0mm

Height: 224.0mm

Weight: 268g

Pages: 160

About the Author

Adam Phillips, formerly Principal Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital, London, is a practising psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of numerous works of psychoanalysis and literary criticism, including most recently On Giving Up, On Wanting to Change, Attention Seeking, In Writing, Unforbidden Pleasures and Missing Out. He is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.

Also by Adam Phillips

View all

More from Self-Help & Personal Development

View all

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.