"An intriguing new way to think about a complicated emotion." --New York

"A revelation." --Angela Duckworth, best-selling author of Grit

Why did Paul Gauguin abandon middle-class life to follow the path of a starving artist? What explains the massive success of Steve Jobs, a man with great ideas but weak programming skills and a questionable managerial style? How did Dean Karnazes--the famed "Ultramarathon Man"--transform himself from a directionless desk jockey into an extreme athlete who once ran fifty marathons in fifty days? As the renowned...