The Bliss Point: 12 Secrets to Savor Life Like an Italian

Four Thousand Weeks meets Eat, Pray, Love in this practical guide to la dolce vita. This debut is highly anticipated by Jade Bonacolta’s community of over one million readers.

If we’re lucky, life gives us 80 summers. How many of them do we savor to their fullest?

In Italy, savoring is woven into ordinary days: an espresso before work, a long lunch of homemade pasta, an evening stroll with loved ones. It's no accident that Italians live longer than most. They know a good life shouldn't sacrifice today’s joy for an uncertain tomorrow.

It’s a lifestyle so many of us aspire to, but assume is out of reach.

No one assumed this more than Jade Bonacolta, an ambitious New Yorker rushing to become a leader at Google before thirty. She was waiting for “someday” to slow down and enjoy her time. Then her father unexpectedly passed away. And she realized, with dreadful clarity, that someday isn’t guaranteed.

In The Bliss Point, Jade moves to Rome hoping to recover what her Italian ancestors had known about living well. On her very first night, a chef in a tiny Roman osteria told her the secret of his irresistible sauce: the bliss point. The perfect blend of salty and sweet keeps you craving more. At that point, Jade’s life had been all salt. She began to wonder if life needed the same blend.

Her journey unfolds through 12 Italian sayings learned from Sunday lunch at Nonna’s, a thousand-mile motorcycle journey, an unexpected romance along the Amalfi Coast, and the pages of Marcus Aurelius and the ancient stoics.

Each chapter pairs a captivating story with its practical lesson. Along the way, you’ll discover the secret recipe for the bliss point: how to chase your most ambitious dreams while savoring the life you already have.

Maybe you can't add more time to your life.
But you can certainly add more life to your time.