The Optimist: One Man’s Search for the Brighter Side of Life
By Laurence Shorter
Canongate £10.99; 330 pages
FT Bookshop price: £8.79

Laurence Shorter will save humanity from a plague of pessimism. That’s his idea, at least. His earnest plan to interview celebrities and discover the secret of optimism is soon derailed by forays into pseudo-mathematics, psychology and a hodgepodge approach to spiritualism. Shorter’s mission transforms into an attempt to find himself as he assimilates and regurgitates New Age nonsense.

The self-mocking narrative prevents the book from degenerating into a self-help manual, however, and it makes for an entertaining read. Shorter is a witty writer – he says of the late Harold Pinter: “Once you have your own adjective, it’s generally accepted that winning the Nobel Prize is a matter of mere formality.”

The Optimist won’t convert confirmed pessimists but it is engaging enough to make you question negative habits – and perhaps restore a little faith in humanity’s future.