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Happiness
 
 

Happiness (Paperback)

by Will Ferguson (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.00
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Happiness + Beyond Belfast + Why I Hate Canadians
Total List Price: CDN$ 69.95
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Product Details


Product Description

From Amazon.com

"The Age of Nice is at hand, and there's nothing we can do about it." But the protagonist of Will Ferguson's Happiness, terminally luckless book editor Edwin de Valu, does want to do something. In fact, he feels obliged to put a stop to the Age of Nice, because it's all his fault. Desperate to save a flagging career in the world of self-help publishing, Edwin has staked everything on a dubious, thousand-page manuscript bearing the motto "Live! Love! Learn!" Promising its readers endless wealth, effortless weight loss, and everlasting happiness, the book has become a runaway success. And that's where Edwin's problems really begin. There's the murderous cartel of drug and tobacco barons who want Edwin's head on a plate, as well as the fact that misery, cynicism, irrational hatred, draught beer--all the things that once made Edwin's life as an underdog bearable--have become outlawed. It's down to one man to save the globe from the tyranny of the group hug! But can Edwin do it before the world economy melts down and a bestselling serial killer called Dr. Ethics enacts his own deadly revenge?

It has been said--possibly by the sort of homily-peddling guru that Ferguson attacks so masterfully in his debut novel--that there are many routes to happiness. The general effect of reading this razor-sharp satire on the self-help industry is to understand that these routes lead us nowhere, except perhaps to a cul-de-sac called Hell. This would be depressing to realize, except that Happiness clubs its readers into submission with the sort of zany, almost otherworldly wit that makes us profoundly glad to be alive. --Matthew Baylis, Amazon.co.uk



From Publishers Weekly

Though it might seem redundant to satirize the self-help industry, Canadian writer Ferguson (Hokkaido Highway Blues) makes a heroic effort in his first novel, combining sitcom-like gags about the publishing industry with the truism that if a self-help book ever actually succeeded in its goals, it would wipe out its own market. The massive and horrible What I Learned on the Mountain, by Rajee Tupak Soiree, arrives in Edwin de Valu's slush pile and is promptly tossed in the garbage by the hapless editor. However, Mr. Mead, owner of Panderic Books, needs a self-help book to fill a hole in the fall catalogue. Edwin volunteers Tupak's magnum opus, then sets out to retrieve it from the waste system and edit it, a process that proves to be unsettling. Edwin's editorial ordeals are mitigated by his immediate boss, May Weatherhill, with whom he is carrying on an intermittent affair, although he is married to the insufferable Jenni. Eventually, the book comes out and becomes a sleeper hit: soon all of America is quitting smoking, drinking, drugging and even reading (except for Tupak's oeuvre). Edwin and Mr. Mead are so horrified by the new world they have helped create that, accompanied by Mr. Ethics, a former Panderic self-help author who is on the lam from prison, they resolve to find and kill Tupak. This is a richly imagined and at times darkly humorous book, but Ferguson's felicities are undermined by the clunky obviousness of his biggest jokes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Happiness
54% buy the item featured on this page:
Happiness 4.6 out of 5 stars (5)
CDN$ 13.14
Beyond Belfast
25% buy
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How To Be A Canadian
7% buy
How To Be A Canadian 4.6 out of 5 stars (23)
CDN$ 14.56

 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
3.0 out of 5 stars Eh..., May 8 2005
By "yamwam" (Ottawa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happiness (Paperback)
That "eh" wasn't any type of the Canadian "eh" noises Will and Ian Ferguson describe in How To Be A Canadian, which is a much, much funnier book. Happiness was an OK read. Not fabulous, but not indigestible either. Just... eh. I think Will Ferguson should just stick to nonfiction.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A really good read!, Sep 10 2003
By Inu (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happiness (Paperback)
This was a wonderful novel that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It's witty, smart, and thought provoking as it explores the true meaning of happiness and humanity's obsession to attain it. The main character, Edwin De Valu, is very much the anti-hero, average editor of publishing company Panderic Inc. The narrative is sharp and keeps you going to the very last page- a definite must read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Another awesome book from Ferguson, Aug 21 2003
By Sarah (Calgary, Alberta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happiness (Mass Market Paperback)
Could Will Ferguson get any funnier? I have to admit, as a long time Ferguson fan, I was certain he wouldn't be able to transfer his wit to the fiction genre. I was thrilled to find myself proved wrong. Happiness proves Ferguson is damn funny, whether he's skewering policitians or publishers. Buy this book.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Most enjoyable read of 2001, best satire I've ever read
Originally published in Canada under the title "Generica," a term coined (as far as I know) by Douglas Coupland, denoting the nation-state of flourescent signage, chain... Read more
Published on April 18 2002 by Alex Cruise

5.0 out of 5 stars New Age Shnew Age
We all yearn to be happy. We want to glow with self-confidence and calm, taking all the niggles of life in our stride. Read more
Published on April 17 2002

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