Dead Set on Living
You know when people ask you, “If you could host the ultimate dinner party, who would be on the guest list?” Dead Set on Living: On Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from F**cking Up to Waking Up reads like the transcript of the best dinner party ever. If you don’t yet know who author and teacher Chris Grosso is, you should, and you will.
Chris Grosso, the Indie Spiritualist
Dead Set on Living is Chris’ latest book (written with Alice Peck). His first two, Everything Mind, and Indie Spiritualist, were both solid contributions to the modern spirituality space. Dead Set On Living is a manual for navigating human condition at high contrast. Grosso’s voice is sweet and raw, confident and vulnerable, curious and knowledgeable. He openly shares the frustration and shame of his (at times) life-threatening struggle with addiction. Recovery, relapse, and recovery, rinse and repeat.
The Personal and the Practice
Grosso weaves his personal story throughout Dead Set on Living. This book is comprised of conversations with a series of teachers and thought leaders from a variety of disciplines. Some of the people featured include Gabor Maté, Tara Brach, Ram Dass, Noah Levine, Duncan Trussell, Sharon Salzberg, and many more. Each chapter explores the nature of suffering and addiction through a particular lens. Each one of these chapters is also punctuated with instructions for a practice that will help cultivate whatever soul hack was covered. Dead Set on Living delivers wisdom for everyone.
Let’s be honest. We all have our ways of numbing out when the endurance test that is life feels too hard. Whether your addictive behavior is obvious or subtle, legal or contraband, Grosso and his posse offer practical wisdom for the journey towards self-mastery. It is meaningful advice that is delivered with both humility and compassion.
