Hi, I’m Michael Ellsberg. I’m the author of Joyful Pessimism : A Memoir of Sex, Mental Illness, and Philosophy , forthcoming (late 2023) from El León Literary Arts .
Previously, I wrote The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won’t Learn in College About How to Be Successful (Penguin, 2011), and co-wrote (with Bryan Franklin) The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever (Penguin, 2016). I also wrote The Power of Eye Contact (HarperCollins, 2010).
I was born in San Francisco in 1977, grew up in Berkeley, and graduated from Brown in 1999 with a degree—that I’ve never used—in International Relations. I now live back in Berkeley.