It's difficult to describe the experience of reading Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George F。 Will's latest book "American Happiness and Discontents，" a collection of reflections simultaneously precise， convicting， quite humorous， and remarkably pointed in their observations。 So profound is Will's presence in the journalistic world that you likely have formed an opinion about the libertarian-conservative journalist whether you've ever read his work or not。 This collection of his essays is a re It's difficult to describe the experience of reading Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George F。 Will's latest book "American Happiness and Discontents，" a collection of reflections simultaneously precise， convicting， quite humorous， and remarkably pointed in their observations。 So profound is Will's presence in the journalistic world that you likely have formed an opinion about the libertarian-conservative journalist whether you've ever read his work or not。 This collection of his essays is a reminder that Will is not easily pegged or labeled， his political and cultural insights often transcending the very labels he is projected to endorse often by those who really have no true understanding of what those labels mean。 "American Happiness and Discontents" was a slow read， at least for me， Will's words demanding full-on attention and focus and his essays so relentlessly thought-provoking that to immerse oneself in too many of them at one sitting is to truly miss the value of his words。 I laughed at times both because of what Will said and how Will said it。 He seems to have a fondness for the word "ameliorate，" a word that I'm exaggerating when I say it's in every other essay。 At one point， I thought about going back to the beginning and counting each use and donating to charity for each time the word appears in the book。 I dare say a charity would be quite grateful for the final donation amount。However， I can't deny that "American Happiness and Discontents" gave me a healthy new respect for George F。 Will precisely because he avoids easy opinions and easy conversations in favor of true analysis and a fearless willingness to confront cultural icons and beloved voices。 It would be nearly impossible to disagree with Will on everything he writes in "American Happiness and Discontents，" a fact with which I'd imagine Will is comfortable yet I'd also imagine he'd be completely comfortable challenging you on your disagreement。 There were， of course， essays that didn't particularly hold my attention。 This wasn't so much because they were flawed as they were simply outside my own social lens。 Other times， intriguing essays felt a tad brief but， well， isn't that always true of essays or columns？George F。 Will has a masterful way of saying a whole lot in very few words。 He is clear。 He is concise。 He is incredibly intelligent and he is surprisingly funny。 I'd dare to say that prior to reading "American Happiness and Discontents" it had never occurred to me that I'd likely enjoy sitting down over a beer with Will and watching a baseball game。 I don't even like baseball。 While Will is primarily known as a political columnist， it takes only barebones fact-finding to realize he's also written popular books on baseball and he's well versed in a variety of areas impacting daily life。 "American Happiness and Discontents" includes quite a few columns centered around mostly Supreme Court cases while also exploring the American Revolutionary War， a variety of historical figures， a scathing and darkly funny assessment on State of the Union addresses， American socialists， anti-capitalist conservatives， drug policy， the criminal justice system， Coronavirus， the First Amendment， parenting， meritocracy and education， China， fascism， authoritarianism， Frank Sinatra， Bob Dylan， The Beach Boys， and the morality of enjoying football。 "American Happiness and Discontents" is intelligent， a minimal standard for Will， and it is also engaging， thoughtful， entertaining， and， again I say， surprisingly funny。 Will had only been a columnist for three years when he won the Pulitzer Prize， an award to be followed by numerous other awards and an award he followed by becoming one of America's most recognized and respected columnists and intellectuals。 "American Happiness and Discontents" is a reminder of just how much one man's voice matters and that man's voice in this case is George F。 Will。 。 。。。more