Eric Weiner: Hot on the trail of happiness

The author will speak and read from The Geography of Bliss
Tuesday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m.
University Hall, Conference Center, 7th floor

Eric Weiner has roamed the world as a foreign correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) over the past two decades, with postings in such places as New Delhi, Jerusalem, and Tokyo.  He’s covered wars and a multitude of catastrophes in more than 30 countries, occasionally foraying into the lighter side of life.

He then decided to apply his journalistic instincts to the subject of happiness, specifically where it can be found (or not found) and what can be learned from the world’s happiest people.  In The Geography of Bliss, self-described mope Weiner takes readers on a light-hearted look at happiness through his observations of people and their cultures in journeys through the 10 countries (including the US) featured in the book.

On the same day at 4:30 p.m., he will read from his new book, Man Seeks God: My Flirtation with the Divine, in the Live Literature series, also in University Hall.

Besides being a regular commentator for NPR and a former reporter for the New York Times, Weiner’s work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Slate and The New Republic, among other publications.   He was also part of a team of NPR reporters that won a 1994 Peabody Award for a series of investigative reports about the US tobacco industry.

For more information about The Geography of Bliss as the summer reading requirement for first-year students, see: Summer Reading.