Emotional Mechanics

As humanity hurtles full-throttle into an increasingly tech-driven future, it's easy to forget that we are still-at our core-emotional beings driven by needs and desires that few of us fully understand. In Emotional Mechanics: Stopping Pi(e), author John Stoppi confronts the isolation, loneliness, regret, stress, anxiety, and sense of powerlessness that often characterize the private (and sometimes public) lives of modern men and women. With refreshing honesty and empathy, Stoppi calls us to rediscover the transformative power of understanding and acceptance, both of our own complex emotional natures and of our connection to others with whom we share this world.


At the heart of Stoppi's book is a detailed exploration of the “mechanics” of various inner elements that largely shape the average person's experience of life. These include emotions and intentions such as anger, fear, jealousy, guilt, regret, self-respect, trust, forgiveness, and love. Stoppi argues that these inner forces operate in often predictable and, therefore, controllable ways. Their “mechanical” nature notwithstanding, Stoppi's explanation of these concepts is thoroughly human: earthy, warm, accessible, and informed by a wide range of psychological and philosophical insights, as well as by lessons drawn from personal and family experiences with mental illness, addiction, financial troubles, poor health, and even suicide. By understanding how emotions shape the way we feel about ourselves and determine the choices we make, Stoppi offers a rational antidote to the otherwise chaotic nature of thought and feelings that so often leads to hopelessness and loss of meaning in the modern world.


Equal parts self-help and memoir, Emotional Mechanics presents to readers a hopeful diagnosis of the human condition and a traversable path to genuine peace of mind.