How to Be Perfect

The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question

By: Michael Schur

Narrated by: Michael Schur, Kristen Bell, D'Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Todd May

From the creator of The Good Place and the cocreator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world. Read by the author, this one-of-a-kind audio production features guest appearances by members of the cast of The Good Place.

Most people think of themselves as “good", but it’s not always easy to determine what’s “good” or “bad” - especially in a world filled with complicated choices and pitfalls and booby traps and bad advice. Fortunately, many smart philosophers have been pondering this conundrum for millennia, and they have guidance for us. With bright wit and deep insight, How to Be Perfect explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more, so we can sound cool at parties and become better people.

Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. 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. Okay, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.

How to Be Perfect is narrated by Michael Schur, Kristen Bell, D’Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, and Todd May!

©2022 Michael Schur. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Michael Schur and the cast of "The Good Place" once again collaborate, this time to ponder today’s toughest moral questions using philosophical views from the East and West. Schur delivers hilarious sarcasm as he tackles ethics and explains how to balance morality and achieve virtue. Friendly and inviting sounding, he is able to take the difficult, oftentimes dry topic of philosophy and make it engaging and entertaining. Using a simple and steady pace, Schur's narration is coupled with signature voices from the show, including Ted Danson and Kristen Bell. The entire cast makes this production an intriguing and funny way to introduce or reintroduce oneself to philosophy and achieve goodness." (AudioFile Magazine)

So good …

Not only a great, accessible review of moral philosophy, it complements the wonderful show The Good Place in a very good way.

Truly Excellent

Incredibly useful, funny, smart, and well done. This made me more thoughtful and gave me great conversation fodder.

This is also a perfect way to do an audiobook. Amazing cast, musical/tonal transitions, adjusting language for the listener rather than leader. Thank you

Educational, insightful, and hilarious

Loved this. I’ve read some of the philosophers he examines in this book, and this is easily the most approachable, instructive, and entertaining treatise on moral philosophy I’ve ever come across. Michael Schur is brilliant as always.

Funny and Deep Thoughts

I really feel it gives a strong foundational and substantive perspective on how to live life as the best moral person possible

Loved it! Funny, eye opening, insightful.

I love the Good Place, it's writers and actors. I heard about this book when Michael went on Dax Shepard's armchair expert podcast. I never had an interest in learning about philosophy until now. This was a very nice window and do something I know nothing about and now I'm getting more into. Fascinating to say the least, absolutely humorous, and I loved hearing familiar beloved voices. He has a way of simplifying complex philosophy stuff. Highly recommend!

Pithy and informative philosophical primer

Really entertaining take on a very difficult topic. Even as someone familiar with the subject, still learned something and am a better person for having taken the time to enjoy this book.

Fun and enlightening

I really enjoyed the book overall. For me it was a great balance between practical philosophy and humor.

Delightful and educational

He made learning about ethics fun! I lived the show the Good Place and this definitely reiterated parts and made me actually understand it a bit better. Plus the footnotes are hilarious.

a real gem!

I thoroughly loved everything about this audio book. Bravo. I'm cured of moral exhaustion.

try again, fail again, try harder

This book does a really good job at discussing philosophy in layman's terms. Made all the complicated rules and theories of philosophy I studied in college more humorous, and easier to understand.

There's a review in here that states they were frustrated because of how contradictory the book gets... and to that I say... welcome to philosophy 😂

Audio was very well constructed and easy to listen to. The book itself was written well too. Good beginning to hook you in and a nice bittersweet finish-Try again:)

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone that just wants to be a better person!