How to be Perfect

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What to expect

* From the writer and executive producer of the award-winning Netflix series The Good Place that made moral philosophy fun: a foolproof guide to making the correct moral decision in every situation you ever encounter, anywhere on earth, forever *

How can we live a more ethical life?

This question has plagued people for thousands of years, but it's never been tougher to answer than it is now, thanks to challenges great and small that flood our day-to-day lives and threaten to overwhelm us with impossible decisions and complicated results with unintended consequences.

Plus, being anything close to an 'ethical person' requires daily thought and introspection and hard work; we have to think about how we can be good not, you know, once a month, but literally all the time.

To make it a little less overwhelming, this fascinating, accessible and funny book by one of our generation's best writers and adept minds in television comedy, Michael Schur, boils down the whole confusing morass with real life dilemmas (from 'should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?' to 'can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people?'), so that we know how to deal with ethical dilemmas. Much as Chidi used humour and philosophy to make Eleanor a less selfish person, Schur takes us on a journey through the 2,500-year discussion of ethics, sketching a roadmap for how we ought to act along the way.

By the time the book is done, we'll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. OK, not quite. Instead, we'll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day

With contributions from Professor Todd May of Clemson University, who served as an advisor on The Good Place, this is a brilliant, clever and hugely entertaining book about one of the most important topics in the world.

'The problem is, if all you care about in the world is the velvet rope, you will always be unhappy, no matter which side you're on.' - Tahani Al-Jamil, The Good Place

(P) 2022 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critics Review

When I was asked to write a blurb about Mike Schur's book on ethics, I thought: no sweat, I'll just skim a few chapters, make something up, and then lie about having read it. After reading a chapter or two, I realized I had missed the point of the book. So I read the whole thing, and I can honestly say it's brilliant. How to be Perfect takes the delightful, funny lessons of The Good Place, and applies them to everyday life
Ted Danson
As someone who worries that a deep dive into morality will ruin my fun and problematic life, I was certain this book wouldn't be for me. Boy, was I wrong! It's so brilliant and funny and warmly written you don't realize you're becoming a better person just by reading it
Mindy Kaling
Have you ever wanted a friend to explain ethics so that you could understand the subject completely with minimal effort on your part? Well, meet your friend Mike Schur. This book will help guide you through the thorniest moral conundrums with clarity and hilarity, and it will greatly up your chances of ending up in...the Good Place
Kristen Bell
How to be Perfect is a kind, thoughtful, incredibly funny reflection on what it is to be a good human being. As a human being myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am certain that other human beings will enjoy it as well
Steve Carell
Read How to Be Perfect and laugh while you learn how to be a better person. And imagine what a great passive-aggressive gift this book would make! Hand it to someone and say 'I saw this and thought of you.' Then they say 'Oh, did you read this?' and you smile and say 'I don't need to'
Amy Poehler
Hilarious, thought-provoking, and ridiculously silly, How to be Perfect is a great read for anyone who loved The Good Place - or anyone who wants to be a good person. And as a bonus, once you've read the book, you become perfect
Jake Tapper, CNN Anchor
An enjoyably boisterous guide to the moral life. If you want to become morally better and don't mind being entertained in the process, you've picked up the right book
Jeff McMahan, Philosophy Professor, Oxford
An absolute breeze to read; funny and enlightening and revealing
Guardian
It's not only very funny [...] but there is real meat to the work too
Irish Times
Enormously enjoyable, useful and readable
The Times

User Reviews

Book 4.0
Narration 4.0
4.0
4.0
This book absolutely delivered on its promise to provide an accessible layman's guide to moral philosophy! With all the warmth and humanity that I would expect coming from the creator of The Good Place! (I will add that Schur's particular brand of humour doesn't feel as well suited to this format as to his TV writing, and the jokes could be somewhat over-indulgent - it didn't really impact my enjoyment, but I imagine it might be a little grating to a reader who was less of a fan of his shows?)

I enjoyed the playful details added to the audiobook production: with sound effects and music from The Good Place indicating footnotes, and chapter breaks, plus cast members making appearances as guest narrators!
eleanorf 12/08/2025

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