Book Club Review: How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur
- Megs
- Oct 18, 2025
- 2 min read
How to Be Perfect
Michael Schur
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published Date: January 25, 2022
Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Self Help
304 Pages / 9 Hours 13 Minutes
Date Read: Sept 5-Oct 9, 2025
Format: 🎧
Source: Audible
As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.
About the Book
Michael Schur walks us through several ethical question such as "Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?", "How much money should I give to charity?", and the well known dilemma, The Trolley Problem: "A trolley is headed toward five people. You can pull a lever to divert it to a side track, killing only one person." He explains different viewpoints from many philosophers and what guidance they give us. At the end of this book, you will be perfect and achieve the maximal amount of good possible in your life... just kidding. But you will be better at making good choices and have fun along the way to learning this.
Quick Review (Spoiler Free)
There were many times that I thought, I’m not going to finish this one. But I was pleasantly surprised by the comedic approach to this book that kept me interested. The delivery of the principles was comedic and light-hearted. It made what can be a heavy topic feel easier to understand even though that is also part of the downfall of this book.
Now, let's get into the details!!
(Note: Some text may appear to be blocked out, just highlight that text to read it.)
I will openly admit that I dread reading nonfiction books because I have not really found many that can keep my interest without me feeling like I’m going to be drug through the book.
Michael Schur is also the creator of The Good Place TV show (which I have been meaning to watch for a long time). That was the other factor that drew me in to this book. I assumed that this book was going to just tell us what to do but it really evoked a lot of thought into why we should consider “good” choices. He manages to blend scholarly ideals with comedic delivery very well (for example, his dislike of pineapple on pizza compared to overall happiness).
It was a lot of what I felt was heavy philosophical principles that I had a hard time keeping straight. The concepts discussed were great but it almost felt like I was having to memorize or go back and try to relisten to understand the differences in some of the principles. This is what made me step away from it so many times.
Narration Comments
I enjoyed hearing the author be the narrator. It made me feel a little more connected to the story knowing he was telling it himself. I do like that he got the actors from The Good Place to read the footnotes. It matched the comedic style of his writing very well.
Comments