'An anthem! A permission slip! Freedom to be us in full glory and messiness ... a fun and freeing read' Melissa Hemsley

'What a powerful, freeing, thought-provoking read this is. I let out a breath I hadn't even realised I was holding' Anna Mathur

You do not have to be good.

At some point, you'll have absorbed the message that being good is to be calm, efficient and tidy. Wise and well-meaning people offer to help you become worthy, to be positive and productive and to always say 'yes, I can!' But what if this is wrong? And what if some of the things we've been told are bad, are just as useful as the good?

Blending science, expert interviews and practical advice, here is the flipside of everything we've been told we should be - and how the bad parts are really not so bad after all. You'll discover:

- Why it's helpful to feel angry
- How it's counterproductive to always be productive
- How laziness can improve your relationships
- Why your body is, and has always been, absolutely fine
- How clutter inspires creativity and enhances your sense of place
- Why mindlessness is good for your mental health

Be Bad, Better is not an invitation to start misbehaving but it is about taking what you think are your worst bits and asking what they could do to serve you. Examining how society polices our behaviour and artificially constructs the good and bad, here is a thoughtful and eminently helpful guide to reassessing your ideas of success, embracing every part of yourself and being bad, better.

'An anthem! A permission slip!' Melissa Hemsley

'A powerful, freeing, thought-provoking read' Anna Mathur

'For most of my life, I've lived as though there's a Platonic ideal of me, and if I just try hard enough, I can be it.
That, my friends, is nuts.'

Most of us spend our lives trying to be a better version of ourselves - happier, healthier, fitter, calmer, selfless . . . But what if all the things that we're supposed to be striving for aren't all they're cracked up to be? What if we leaned into our 'lesser' traits instead?

Be Bad, Better calls into question our constructed ideas of 'good' and 'bad' and relentless pursuit of self-improvement. From anger to messiness, laziness to aging, it deconstructs our supposed flaws and instead offers a radical framework for self-acceptance.

A fascinating guide to re-evaluating our ideas of 'good' and 'bad' and embracing every part of ourselves