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An emotional balancing act of Herculean proportions, Will Ferguson's debut novel is somehow both caustically cynical and touchingly humane. Its message: there is no happiness without sadness. The
pursuit of happiness is all--actually attaining it, if that were even possible, would be death. When Edwin de Valu, an editor at Panderic Press, finds
What I Learned on the Mountain, a self-help book by an unknown author, Tupak Soiree, on his slush pile and publishes it, suddenly millions of people believe that pursuit is over. "Apocalypse Nice" has arrived, and Edwin's cynical side goes into high gear trying to save the world from itself. On this hysterical (in every sense of the word) quest, Edwin receives little help from his credulous wife, his plump co-worker (and sometime lover) May, or his ponytailed baby-boomer boss, Mr. Mead.
This wacky, lightweight novel mixes elements from Dilbert, Woody Allen, grainy art films, and P.J. O'Rourke. While Ferguson lines up a number of easy targets and can be way too obvious ("The Name of the Tulip" echoes a certain highbrow mystery), he can also write with flair, as in describing Edwin's city: "Here, in a miasma of fumes, trains rattle-bang on an endless Möbius strip of work, sweat, salt and grubby lucre. A merry-go-round where the horses have emphysema." --Mark Frutkin
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
In this audiobook of his satirical, fast-paced novel, Will Ferguson skewers societys obsession with self-improvement. Generica is the story of Edwin de Valu, a beleaguered junior editor at Panderic Press. In desperate need of a new self-help author, Panderic decides to publish a rambling 1000-page manuscript by an obscure author named Tupak Soirée. What I Learned on the Mountain is different from any self-help book before it in one respect it works! The book quickly becomes the best selling book ever. Suddenly, everyone CAN be happy, CAN lose weight and stop smoking, and CAN get rich quick. Edwin fears that the bliss he has unleashed on the world may indeed be a curse. One by one his friends and family take up the cult of Happiness (a word now trademarked by Panderic Press). Soon Edwin begins to see that any system of blind acceptance is ultimately destructive. He realizes that he is the unlikely champion that fate has chosen to fight the menace of Happiness.