Distilling 30 years of observation and insight as a minister at Harvard University, Peter J. Gomes offers this timely and comforting guide to focusing our minds and hearts on higher things.

Gomes begins by distinguishing between "the plausible lies" that our culture tells us about the good life, and "the fantastic truths" that alone can bring true and abiding happiness. He shows how "the plausible lies" work together to form a powerful cultural narrative, based on the allure of riches and power, a blind faith in science, and the desire for personal happiness, freedom, success, and immortality. Working through each of these unquestioned values of modern life, he challenges us to find a new vision of what is good and worthy in life. Advice for living directed to both young and old, The Good Life is an important book about the truths that sustain us even in times of great adversity.