#SOUL - Ilaria Gaspari

Ilaria Gaspari is a vibrant young writer and esteemed philosopher (University of Pisa, Sorbonne, etc.). When you imagine philosophy as an exercise for long white beards... no! Philosophy is an exercise for the good use of life. And it's with a pretentious title, Lessons in Happiness (Einaudi), that Ilaria proposes her experiment: overwhelmed by a love affair gone bad, she digs out university textbooks on ancient philosophers and tries to live according to the famous "schools" of that time: a week as a Pythagorean, a week as a skeptic, a week as an Epicurean... discovering that "rules!" are a precious help, a cure. That the present and the essential are very much there, and that giving thanks is the first thing we should do every morning.