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Original Title:	Generica
ISBN:	006052510X (ISBN13: 9780060525101)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Edwin de Valu
Literary Awards:	Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal (2002), Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize Nominee for Comic Fiction (2002), Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction (2002)

Happiness

Will Ferguson

Paperback | Pages: 320 pages

Rating: 3.79 | 3116 Users | 279 Reviews

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4.5 stars

As much as I enjoy quirky satire, few books have consistently made me laugh--and think--like Will Ferguson's 2001 unexpected (albeit a wee bit dated) delight Happiness(TM), a book that hilariously yet poignantly eviscerates Americans' consumerist bent and the pursuit of happiness at any cost. He focuses his sights on the publishing world: specifically the Random Houses and HarperCollinses and Simon & Schusters responsible for churning out Self-Help books (everything from fad diet rehashes and "Chicken Soup for the Soul" inspirational claptrap, to monster megahit spiritual awakening screeds disguised as novels like James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy.)

This "apocalyptic" tale (so deemed in the introduction, a stretch for sure) is seen through the eyes of Edwin de Valu, a scrawny, sarcastic, vile turd (who cheats on his wife and kicks the family cat every opportunity he can) and low-level Panderic Press editor of their Self-Help catalogue. After the author of Panderic's biggest seller, the "Mr. Ethics" series, is convicted of triple homicide, Edwin is tasked with culling the slush pile for "The Next Big Thing" to replace their fallen-from-grace money machine. After weeks of fruitless slush pile-culling, a mammoth 1,000-page uneditable manuscript plops in called "What I Learned on the Mountain" by a Bangladeshi guru named Tupak Soiree. Though it seems like a comprehensive Asian mishmash of every single Self-Help book published to date, Edwin (under the gun to get something published or risk losing his job) gets the behemoth printed and distributed. And, amazingly, with no publicity or marketing effort, the book explodes in popularity. almost attaining a religious fervor with its readers. The book becomes so popular, with multiple millions of happy adherents, that a wave of non-consumption sweeps the country: First the tobacco and alcohol industries crumble, then fast food empires follow suit, then its just a matter of time before everything comes screeching to a halt. An economic standstill (yet with a populace filled with Happiness(TM))

Yeah, super far-fetched, I know, but you're not likely to confuse this satire for anything deep and meaningful. Yet, among the guffaws, there's just enough truth sprinkled throughout to give one pause: No, a Self-Help book isn't going to bring the country to its knees, but it's creepy fun imagining the scenario Ferguson (firmly tongue-in-cheek) lays out. And, if nothing else, this book is a hilarious alternative to fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood's clunky, similarly-themed dystopian novel, The Heart Goes Last. My sense of humor is a bit twisted, but you know, I'll gladly chortle my way through Ferguson's wry Happiness(TM) than endure Atwood's shlocky Possibilibots any day.

List Epithetical Books Happiness

Title	:	Happiness
Author	:	Will Ferguson
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 320 pages
Published	:	June 3rd 2003 by HarperPerennial (first published April 17th 2001)
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. Canada. Humor

Rating Epithetical Books Happiness

Ratings: 3.79 From 3116 Users | 279 Reviews

Commentary Epithetical Books Happiness

What would happen if someone wrote a self-help book that actually worked? ... The collapse of society, that's what. Ferguson sets about exposing and mocking the pretensions of writers; the ruthlessness of publishers; the idleness and incompetence of editors; the folly of the wider world. Within the first chapter, you'll already have a sense of his sardonic approach, one which he maintains through most of the book. You can tell, though, that Ferguson is good-natured about the whole thing. He is

4.5 starsAs much as I enjoy quirky satire, few books have consistently made me laugh--and think--like Will Ferguson's 2001 unexpected (albeit a wee bit dated) delight Happiness(TM), a book that hilariously yet poignantly eviscerates Americans' consumerist bent and the pursuit of happiness at any cost. He focuses his sights on the publishing world: specifically the Random Houses and HarperCollinses and Simon & Schusters responsible for churning out Self-Help books (everything from fad diet

Started off very snarky and funny, loved the satire on writers and publishers, but fell off toward the end when it was all plot.

A cynical, satirical novel about what would happen to the world if self help books actually worked. The book pulls no punches making fun of every aspect of the self-help and enlightenment industry, not to mention big publishing houses, marketing, and office work in general. It's an entertaining read but very bleak humour and the ending felt a little flat and anticlimactic. Although this book seems to have won the "Stephen Leacock award for humour", I would actually recommend the author's earlier

Some clever stuff, genuinely funny at times, but the story drags on a little and the "end of the world" stuff is maybe a bit of a letdown.To summarize, a self-help book actually works and mostly solves everyone's problems, but the protagonist realizes that the world is left in this kind of purgatory and that being content and satisfied with all things in life isn't natural or even desirable. The main point is that the pursuit of happiness is what drives us, not the actual happiness (TM). This is

Would the world not be a better place if everyone was happy? This book uncovers what would happen if this exact thing occurred via a self-help book that actually WORKS! Anyone can read it and find their happiness. But is there such thing as too much happiness? This is a question that the main character Edwin (a completely fed up editor) must come to terms with, solve, and reverse. A very funny story. Would be a great summer read.

I think it must be the most sarcastic and cynical book I've read. In any other situation I would probably have hated it, but it made my feeling of loss go away without leaving behind this thinking in a fairy-tale that the books I usually read do. Yeah life sucks and then you die. This book certainly does make you think about the meaning of it all.