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Sarah Wilson
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First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety Hardcover – April 24, 2018

by Sarah Wilson (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,269 ratings
See all formats and editions
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New York Times Bestseller

"Probably the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read.” – Mark Manson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful.

Sarah Wilson first came across this Chinese proverb in psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir An Unquiet Mind, and it became the key to understanding her own lifelong struggle with anxiety. Wilson, bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur has helped over 1.5 million people worldwide to live better, healthier lives through her I Quit Sugar books and program. And all along, she has been managing chronic anxiety.

In First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, Wilson directs her intense focus and fierce investigating skills onto her lifetime companion, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism of her own experiences.

Wilson offers readers comfort, humor, companionship, and practical tips for living with the Beast:

  • Cultivate a "gratitude ritual." You can't be grateful and anxious at the same time.
  • Eat to curb anxiety. Real food is your best friend.
  • Just breathe. Embrace the healing power of meditation.
  • Make your bed. Every day. Simple outer order creates inner calm.
  • Study fellow fretters to know thyself. Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. all struggled with anxiety.
  • Actively practice missing out. Forget FOMO, curl up on the couch, and order takeout.

Practical and poetic, wise and funny, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is a small book with a big heart. It will encourage the myriad souls who dance with this condition to embrace it as a part of who they are, and to explore the possibilities it offers for a richer, fuller life.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Dey Street Books
  4. Publication date
    April 24, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.05 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0062836781
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0062836786
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Probably the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read, and I have (unfortunately) read many. Sarah is full of expert advice while remaining grounded and incredibly human. Her vulnerability is her strength. And after reading, it will hopefully be yours too.” — Mark Manson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

“A witty, well-researched, and often insightful book about negotiating a new relationship to anxiety.” — Andrew Solomon, New York Times Bestselling author of Far From the Tree

“Sarah’s life mission is to help us all feel less lonely in our pain. These pages are filled with authenticity and clear direction for how to return to our spiritual truth.”     — Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of May Cause Miracles

“A tremendously entertaining, wise, and effective book on how to walk through anxiety and reclaim life. Sarah’s battle and triumph over anxiety inspires and gives solutions that work. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful resides at the intersection of science and lived-experience. I know of nothing in the same league.”  — Xavier Amador, Ph.D., psychologist and founder of the LEAP Institute

“An affecting memoir of coping with anxiety over a busy lifetime. […] Those who endure anxiety will find Wilson’s thoughtful, often funny self-analysis to be just the right companion and affirmation.” — Kirkus

“Uplifting, earnest […] practical, and filled with delightful asides, this book will appeal to anxiety-prone readers, who will find much to calm them in these pages.” — Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Sarah Wilson is the author of the New York Times bestsellers First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety, which redefined the mental health genre, and I Quit Sugar, along with eleven cookbooks that have been published in fifty-two countries. Previously, she was editor of Cosmopolitan Australia, host of MasterChef Australia and founder of iquitsugar.com, an 8-week program that has seen millions worldwide break their sugar addiction. In May 2018, Sarah committed to giving all proceeds from the business to charity. She now builds and enables charity projects that engage humans with one another, and campaigns on mental health, consumerism, and climate issues. Sarah lives in Sydney, Australia, is an obsessive hiker and spent eight years travelling the world with one bag.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dey Street Books (April 24, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062836781
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062836786
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.05 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,269 ratings

About the author

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Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson

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Sarah Wilson is a New York Times bestselling author, journalist and founder of IQuitSugar.com. She has published 15 I Quit Sugar books in 46 countries and most recently she published First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, A New Story of Anxiety. She was ranked as one of the top 200 most influential authors in the world in 2017 and 2018, based on web and international book scan algorithms and in Greatist.com’s 100 most influential health experts in 2015.

Mark Manson has described "The Beast" as “the best book about anxiety” he’s ever read. NBC's Carson Daly cited it as has "favorite book". Former Australian of the Year Prof Patrick McGorry described it as, “indeed quite extraordinary, illuminating what is at once a nomadic journey, a cri de coeur and a compendium of hard-won wisdom flowing from a uniquely talented individual… a tour de force.”

Other facts that might interest: Sarah was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine Australia at 29, the host of MasterChef Australia, holds a record in the Guinness Book (you can Google that further if you like), is a mad hiker, explorer and minimalist. She lives between the US and Bondi Beach, Sydney and ocean swims most days.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
2,269 global ratings
I love this book
5 Stars
I love this book
This book helps you feel human, to understand your anxiety, depression, bipolar etc. isn’t foreign and you are not alone. It’s not a self help book, but a motivator in looking inward and learning to heal even when it sucks! Which it will! But you’ll grow in time.
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Top reviews from the United States

julie powers
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening!
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
Holy crap, this book is game changing. I’m half way thru ( I keep rereading chapters), and I am amazed. Thank you Sarah for throwing out a lifeline to all us anxious thinkers. Your book has spoken to me so personally and helped me immensely!
3 people found this helpful
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mark g
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
Book was a very interesting book to read. Felt like she was sitting there telling me her story. As someone with anxiety it is informative to hear someone else’s story. Great book and fast shipping.
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Susan M. Baumann
4.0 out of 5 stars A Tangle of Anxiety
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2018
Verified Purchase
Wilson’s memoir is engaging, earnest and somewhat frenetic. It is filled with insight, research, grace, near-constant searching and moments of hard-won wisdom. Wilson mentions anxiety, depression, mania and obsessive compulsive disorder. She states that bipolar disorder was diagnosed, but she feels that anxiety is at the root of the debilitating spirals of panic, insomnia and propulsive activity. The label is perhaps not as important as Wilson’s willingness to explore her own dark places in order to find wholeness, solid ground and peace. The journey is circuitous and tangled. Wilson ratchets up and careens down, when seemingly innocuous triggers prompt her anxiety. Her life is depicted as an endless series of painful attempts to corral her fears into a manageable framework that will allow her to live happily. Wilson is buffeted by moods, indecision, frequent travel and a jittery, palpable unease. The book will resonate best with anyone who wrestles with the devastating impact of mental illness. I truly empathize with Wilson’s struggles. She finds meditation, exercise and learning to sit with her discomfort to be invaluable tools for healing, instead of the impulsivity, perpetual change and a pervasive desire to flee whenever anxiety becomes intolerable. Wilson also realizes that age and time give her greater perspective on how to ride out her relentless worry episodes. She finds more balance and self-acceptance, and is able to dwell with her anxiety when it arises, rather than just trying to eradicate it. My issue with the book is in Wilson’s admissions of sometimes deliberately courting her anxiety. She admits to liking the “drama” of it all. It has perhaps become a source of energy and identity that is both as familiar, as it is disabling. At one point, Wilson mentions being awake for several days at a time at the height of her anxiety. Certainly, protracted periods without sleep can bring on mental fragility. If one stays awake as long as Wilson contends, then deterioration of acuity and function would subsequently occur as a result. With significant sleep loss, mental and physical impairment would be expected. Because Wilson’s anxiety is so prevalent, it would seem that a strong desire for rest and calm would squelch any behaviors that exacerbate it. Wilson clearly wants to understand her complicated relationship with anxiety, and she succeeds, but perhaps sometimes it serves her too, for the surge of emotional intensity that it provides. It’s that duality that can make the book frustrating, but still an interesting read.
72 people found this helpful
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visuella
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book for anyone living on earth today
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this book so much that I slowed myself down towards the end of it so it doesn’t end.

It’s one of the most remarkable, truthful, and relaxing books I’ve read. It made me feel like I’m not alone and that I’m normal and even amazing, even with my anxiety.

It’s absolutly the only book I read that gives a positive twist on how to view our anxiety as a power and not a weaknesss and as a friend and not an enemy.

This lady has got some serious girl balls and I would love to meet her one day for tea, with no sugar and interview her for my book which I was totally even more inspired to write after reading First We Make The Beast Beautiful.

I can’t stop raving about it; such elegance, such wisdom, such bravery in these pages. everyone in the world should read this book because it will make the world a better place.
Ella
4 people found this helpful
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Algernon
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally someone gets me
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
I've struggled with anxiety and depression for more than 55 years. Seen my share of shrinks and took my share of meds. I've read lots of books but none of them helped, especially books written by well-meaning people but people who either haven't had the experiences they write about, or don't want to air their laundry out.

The title of Wilson's book caught my eye while strolling through our local library, so I checked it out. I didn't get very far into it and realized I stumbled onto something very different (i.e., very good). So good, in fact, that I bought a copy and am re-reading it (this time with a highlighter).

The things Wilson struggled with...it's like she wrote the book just for me. I read paragraph after paragraph and would often stop and think, "I always believed I was the only one who thought that!" To find out someone "out there" has the very same odd thoughts as me is enormously reassuring and gives me hope.

There are statements near the end of the book that are enlightening (no spoilers!) but only having first read everything before it. Had I skipped ahead, those statements near the end would not have the impact that they do. Four words near the end that have helped me more than anything else I've ever tried. Just four words. So if you buy this book, I encourage you to not skip ahead or around. Let it unfold page-by-page.

One more thing. If you're looking for a book written by someone who has it all together, or is an "expert" counselor, this ain't for you. This is a book written by someone whose life at times has been a heartbreaking mess, for people like me whose life has always been a colossal heartbreaking mess. Finally someone gets me.
11 people found this helpful
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Linae
3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok.
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
I bought this book after I heard many recommendations. I was pretty disappointed. While some of the tools were useful, I found that the author talked a LOT about herself and her life , which was uninteresting to me as I don’t know her . The info seemed a bit scattered and all over the place and lastly there were some statements in the book that could offend Christian’s or other religious people. I think the book is overhyped .
2 people found this helpful
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RalphJr
5.0 out of 5 stars Walking With Sarah Is Fun....
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
Ms Wilson has had a challenging go of it and kept her dignity and sense of humor. Excellent writer, egoless first person account of the challenges many of us face in life even without full-on anxiety disorder. Not a scholarly view, but Sarah is so well-read and has obviously drawn useful insight from all her reading and interviewing experience. I have already put some of her simple advice into practice. Not sure how this book will affect folks with severe diagnoses, or in therapy, etc., and not sure I would classify this as a "self-help" read, I just enjoyed her honesty, humor and observations.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jessica Sandberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
Absolutely the most beautiful book cover ever and great, heavy read
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Aimilios
5.0 out of 5 stars My friend loved it.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2024
Verified Purchase
My friend said this is a fantastic book.
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Hasenpfote
4.0 out of 5 stars I can so relate
Reviewed in Germany on January 6, 2024
Verified Purchase
Die Autorin beschreibt eine Innenwelt, die ich gut kenne - sehr glaubwürdig. Sie scheint hoch intelligent zu sein, und es macht ihr Spaß, die Welt der Psychologie/Medizin sehr kritisch zu betrachten.
Das Buch lässt sich leicht lesen, könnte aber kürzer sein.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Tornando o monstro lindo
Reviewed in Brazil on August 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
Uma linda jornada sobre a vida da autora que lida com a ansiedade. Cheio de dados, dicas e uma bela lição sobre se por vulnerável, humilde e resiliente na vida, aprendendo a olhar com beleza para nossos monstros. Adorei!
One person found this helpful
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PMV
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in Mexico on January 8, 2019
Verified Purchase
Oh so very pretty book.
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PMV
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in Mexico on January 8, 2019
Oh so very pretty book.
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