{"id":94663,"date":"2026-02-04T16:43:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T17:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:03:26","slug":"the-life-you-want","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life You Want"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Where do we get ideas about the lives we want? And, what do we do &#8211; and fail to do &#8211; about actually getting them? In &#8216;The Life You Want&#8217;, Adam Phillips uses psychoanalytic and literary approaches to show that we are obsessed by the idea of our lives being ones we want and enjoy rather than merely endure, tolerate or make the most of. Through a series of interlinked essays, Phillips explores the difficulties we have around the whole idea of enjoying &#8211; and fashioning &#8211; our lives in cultures that insistently promote enjoyment while making it very difficult for so many people.<\/p>\n<!-- Jellybooks Discovery Plugin: Not on a regular page -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":97096,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[9491],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-94663","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-religion-philosophy","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"taxable","11":"shipping-taxable","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Borzoi Bookshop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T16:03:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"ItemPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/9780241766118.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T16:43:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T16:03:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/9780241766118.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/9780241766118.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":643},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/product\\\/the-life-you-want\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shop\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Life You Want\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/\",\"name\":\"Borzoi Bookshop\",\"description\":\"An independent bookseller of more than 40 years located in Stow-on-the-Wold, in the heart of the Cotswolds.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Borzoi Bookshop\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/borzoi_illustration_right.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/borzoi_illustration_right.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":257,\"caption\":\"The Borzoi Bookshop\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\\\/shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop","description":"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop","og_description":"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback","og_url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/","og_site_name":"Borzoi Bookshop","article_modified_time":"2026-04-28T16:03:26+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["WebPage","ItemPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/","url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/","name":"The Life You Want - Borzoi Bookshop","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9780241766118.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-04T16:43:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-28T16:03:26+00:00","description":"Author Adam Phillips Published by Hamish Hamilton ISBN 9780241766118 EAN 9780241766118 Bic Code VSPM|JMAF Cover Hardback","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9780241766118.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9780241766118.jpg","width":400,"height":643},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/product\/the-life-you-want\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shop","item":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Life You Want"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/","name":"Borzoi Bookshop","description":"An independent bookseller of more than 40 years located in Stow-on-the-Wold, in the heart of the Cotswolds.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#organization","name":"The Borzoi Bookshop","url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/borzoi_illustration_right.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/borzoi_illustration_right.jpg","width":300,"height":257,"caption":"The Borzoi Bookshop"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/94663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=94663"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=94663"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.borzoibookshop.co.uk\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=94663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}