1,033 Reasons to Smile

By Elizabeth Dutton

With all the impending doomsday predictions everyone is looking for a reason to smile these days. And why not? Smiling has been shown to relieve stress, boost the immune system, release endorphins, and even make us more attractive. It’s the natural drug. So put down the Xanax and pick up a copy of 1,033 Reasons to Smile. Whether it’s the sight of baby animals wrestling each other or watching pigeons fight over a Cheeto, there are more than enough funny, silly, and downright weird reasons to put a smile on your face inside this little book of joy, including:

      When the person in the next lane lets you ahead of them in heavy traffic
      When you finally get back into your own bed after being away from home
      You check the calendar on a Friday and realize that Monday is a holiday

We're all looking for a reason to smile these days. Here's 1,033 of them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781628730982

Elizabeth Dutton

Elizabeth Dutton is the author of 1,033 Reasons to Smile. She is a graduate of the creative writing master’s program at the University of Glasgow and has worked for Mother Jones magazine. Driftwood is her first novel. Born and raised in California, Elizabeth now lives in Chesterfield, South Carolina, where she teaches English at the local community college.

Book preview

1,033

REASONS TO

The world, I am sure you will agree, is a weird and wonderful place. There seems to be collectively more good than bad in society, otherwise we wouldn’t all still be here. However, there are times when the insanity or the anguish or the confusion or the evil are just too much for the everyman (and everywoman) to bear. When this world and the other fragile humans that populate it overwhelm us, when life is painful or even simply boring, we need to be reminded of the weird and wonderful. The weird and wonderful are what make us smile, and those smiles keep us going. Smiles are pretty much universal no matter your language or culture, a smile at its core means friendship, happiness, and ease. What follows are reasons to smile, simple as that. The title quantifies the reasons, but within these pages are far more and far fewer than 1,033 reasons to slap a grin on your gorgeous mug; everyone’s smile mileage will vary. It is safe to say, though, that you’ll find something in here to put a smile on your face. And if not? Then maybe you can smile with satisfaction at having been impervious to these attempts. Whatever gets you there, the object here is to smile.