How to be Perfect

I was late to the The Good Place party. I had seen my wife watch a few episodes and thought it looked interesting but never really got on board with the whole series, but over time, so many people said it was great that I wound up giving it a go. And like many people, I wound up really enjoying the series. The twists were excellent and its basic plot was fascinating, but what really appealed to me was the way the series Integrated quite deep, philosophical discussions into its narrative. Even though much of the time the discussion was used in a humorous way, the ideas presented were nevertheless given enough time to make you stop and think.

A lot of research obviously went into producing the series and the basic premise of a bad person going to heaven and then having to learn how to be good in order to fit in is a really interesting idea. What really got me into the series (and has made me start rewatching it), is a book the showrunner wrote.

Michael Shur, was the ‘brains’ behind the series and he’s also produced other notable TV series such as the American series of The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The book he wrote, How to be Perfect, was a discussion of the philosophical ideas presented in The Good Place. So it’s basically a book of moral philosophy for beginners. It’s told in his typical rapid-fire humor (if you’ve seen any of the tv series he’s produced you’ll have an idea of what I mean). There are what seemed like 1000 footnotes – most of which are there to provide humour rather than an elaboration on a key point – but the net result is a book that is easy to read, makes you think and inspires through its understanding that people can improve themselves throughout their lives.

And that the concept of being a good person is one that is typically in flux and needs to be worked towards. And it is that journey of trying to be good, striving to be good that becomes the worthwhile notable thing. Just as it does in the TV series.

However, even though I have a copy of the book on my bookcase that is not the version I’m going to recommend to you. The version I’m going to recommend to you is the audiobook.

The audio book version of How to be Perfect is amazingly well-produced. it’s read by Michael Schur himself. However, he has roped in most of the cast of The Good Place and several notable moral philosophers to add insight and/or read sections of this book. This makes it feel more like a discussion that you’re overhearing/part of and a very entertaining one that. I enjoyed listening to it so much. It’s the first audio book I’ve listened to where I just started playing it again when I’d finished it the first time. Some of the ideas include an answer to the meaning of life (and that’s in the first chapter!), the Trolley Problem, and several different concepts of what constitutes ‘goodness’. It not all ancient Greek, German, or French philosophy either, Australia’s very own Peter Singer gets a decent discussion too – thought let me warn you, his notion of being good is intense. He argues that you should do the most good you can all the time – if that means donating organs, the majority of your income or giving up most of your possessions to those who are less fortunate, then so be it. At their most extreme, his arguments justify things which are bad, but if the net result is a positive then they should be done. An example from one of his books is advocacy for active euthanasia for severely disabled newborn infants as this will produce a greater quantity of ‘good’ through relieving the ‘burden’ of the child on the community¹. Such ideas are only ever discussed tactfully in How to be Perfect, in that the apparent purpose of presenting extreme forms of ‘goodness’ is to guide the reader/listener through a spectrum of morality, from which they are encouraged to determine their own placement on the continuum. In other words, despite being a book about morality, it doesn’t sermonise about what your morals should be. I liked that about it. For me that led to greater consideration of the ideas presented as I wanted to work out where I stood in relation to them.

Now I’ve listened to it four times. It is that good/interesting. The only other audiobook that I’ve listened to anywhere near as much is *cue shameless self-promotion* the audiobook for Sovereign Assassin, which is released this December (2023) and will be available from pretty much all the places you can get audiobooks. 😉

Next time I’ll talk about the weird routine of a world famous author which they use to get in the mood for writing (yes, I know that was what this post was meant to be about, but this was easier for me to write…). To make sure you don’t miss the next Great Moment in Literature, please subscribe to my mailing list.

1. Singer, Peter (2001). “On Being Silenced in Germany”. Writings on an Ethical Life. Fourth Estate. pp. 303–318. On Being Silenced in Germany | Peter Singer | The New York Review of Books (nybooks.com)

https://www.audible.com.au/pd/How-to-Be-Perfect-Audiobook/B09LHXLX4Z

https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Perfect-Correct-Question/dp/B09LHVKCK3/