Customer Reviews

Happiness: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A good first novel from Ferguson, who offers intelligent comments on life and people. We follow Edwin de Valu, mediocre editor, through the ordeal of finding and publishing the ultimate self-help book: the one that works!

And here we already have the best things about Happiness(TM)--its title and premise. The rest of it is good, but not as good. Ferguson comments intelligently but not cleverly. Some of the supporting characters are colorful, in general they are well developed, and the plot is consistent. Everything is good, polished, well presented, and so on and so forth. But the novel feels contrived, it doesn't have the wit of Ferguson's non-fiction books.

On the minus side, Ferguson is a little preachy. He gives his own recipe for happiness, a seize-the-moment philosophy of life. Ferguson probably didn't intend this ironical twist, but his attack on self-help literature can be read as the author's advice to the world on how people can be happy, i.e. get away from self-help schemes. Sounds like self-help to me.

I so wanted to love this novel! I've been a Ferguson junkie ever since I picked "Bastards and Boneheads" as a quick travel read; he showed me the light and I am a born-again Canadian because of him. So maybe I expected too much. As it is, I moderately liked it. Three stars.

The simple premise of this deeper-the-expected book is summed up in the prolog, "If anyone wrote a self-help book that actually worked, we'd all be in trouble." The way this plays out is the main draw of the book. I could not anticipate what would happen next, and at the end, was not all that sure if I had got what I expected.

The writing style of the book is a mish mash - it flips back and forth between tenses and at times has the narrator talking to the reader. I learned quickly not to trust the author - his description of a publishing company's slush pile is undermined by the fact that Will Ferguson's first three books were plucked from the slush pile. I also learned not to expect much from the flawed main characters, wishy-washy Edwin and predictable May, but read on to see how the story would progress and ultimately end.

I was most struck by the burst of insight that did sneak in. For instance, "...ethics isn't about choosing between right and wrong;" a character in part three says, "it's about choosing between gray and gray."

Happiness (tm) was a good weekend book. The humor, at times reminiscent of a Simpsons eppisode or Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" series, does jab at the right targets. It doesn't hit them all the time, but is good entertainment none the less.

Happiness (Generica as I know it) by Canadian Author Will Ferguson was the book responsible for ending a long drought of unsatisfacory reading for myself. A definite GEM!
One of the only books to bring me to a loud laugh in public.
His characters are both very human and very funny. A sad but what I believe to be true scenario about how our industries pray and profit from human vices and weaknesses.
A must read!
A much better self help book than a self help book!

Cynical, sardonic, sarcastic, satirical - if these words intrigue you, then "Happiness" will surely make you smile.

The book's entire concept is based on a single statement made to the author about how an effective self-help book would actually cause more problems than it would solve. With this nugget of cynicism as its backbone, the delightfully satirical tale unfolds.

Fiction novels are typically based in reality, but "Happiness" chronicles an imaginary world "in the near future, say, 10 minutes from now." Although it can be difficult at times to grasp any sense of realism in this frame of reference, it ultimately works because Ferguson effectively draws readers into his sarcastic and skewed vision.

Self-help books may seem like an easy target to make fun of, but Ferguson takes his cynicism a step further by lampooning society in general. In the process, he makes interesting points about a world without vices and insecurities. What would happen if we quit worrying about our appearance or lost interest in movies and sports? Would the world really be a Happy place? Ferguson's novel addresses this question with enough wittiness and sarcasm to keep you blissfully entertained.

Happiness by Will Ferguson is the story of ho-hum book editor Edwin Vincent de Valu and the self-help book he edits (or doesn't edit, as it were) that turns out the be THE self-help book and creates a "devastating plague of human happiness" that spreads to all who read it - with the exception of .3% (according to the marketing department). Edwin, of course, remains one of the .3ers and, after losing his wife (but having to keep the cat), his money, his home, his lover, and gaining a broken thumb, must make the quest to return the world to its former unhappy self.

Ferguson's style is witty and modern with a sly intellectual spin. Insightfully satirical and laugh-out-loud-in-the-doctor's-waiting-room funny, Happiness is an absolute "must read".

A funny story. I love the sarcasm, and I took great delight in the presentation of the workings of a publishing world. I recommend this particularly to anyone who's ever tried to partake of some aspect of the joys of publishing (writers, editors, copy-editors, interns...). Or to people who love mocking self-help books.

I was snowed in and wanted to read a book that would make me laugh. I thought this would be it. It has a good story line that I enjoyed but it was inhibited by Ferguson's attempts to find faults with self-help books which resulted in something very close to his own version of a self help book mingled into his story line. Not that some of his advice wasn't insightful only that it was not what was expected. I kept getting fusterated when some of his "almost preachy" moments interfered with the story line. As long has you understand that the balance of the book is 50% self-help and 50% story you won't be disapointed.

Happiness is a very creative novel. It chronicles the decline of civilization due to a self-help book that actually solves the worlds problems, and makes everyone happy. Will Ferguson's writing has improved dramatically since this book was written, but this is far and away the most clever book that he has written. The events are forced at times, and it shows all the trademarks of a first novel, but it is extremely amusing nonetheless. Certainly worthwhile for a light and original summer read!

"Happiness" by Will Ferguson dishes out rough truths with plenty of pleasure. This is a satirical look at the perils of having all your wishes come true through a wonderful "What If" book. Just what if we all became happy and satisfied to the point of bliss? Would we have a happy and blissful world? Would we live happily ever after?

The answers to the above questions are fully answered through the life of Edwin de Valu, the main character in this very surprising funny novel. Edwin, a self help book editor, finds himself being a catalyst for the ultimate self help book that turns his publishing house into a bliss factory. The publication of "What I Learned on the Mountain Top" by Tupak Sorie becomes the last book and philosophy needed by human kind and the results had me laughing out loud, which is rare in a book anymore.

This book will have you thinking deeply about how our economy is so dependent on our ability to be fragile imperfect consumers caught up in self-image and that dream of becoming all we can be. The saving power of humor is what drives this story to a socially pointed ending. While revealing the foibles of the Self Help movement and industry, it clarifies what is really meaningful to human beings, our ability to feel emotions on all levels, good and bad, our ability to laugh at ourselves, and most importantly, to be passionate about life.

It is almost like Will Ferguson has read all the self help books ever written, has put them through a publishing mock grinder, took the left over pieces and created a truly honest naked look at our present post modern selves in a most humorous innovative way. Strangely, this book may inadvertently become the ultimate self-help book his novel is warning us about! If it does, don't worry, be happy. :)

Ok, the book was funny at some parts, annoying at others. While the premise was cleverly set up, seemingly to gather steam and roll towards a rollickin' good end, the ending was way too much of a let down with huge chunks of dialogue as exposition that went on and on and on. It was disappointing. Here, the author was setting up some end-of-the-world scenario with a scary book and its mysteriously evil author as its villain, only to reveal.... Groan! Again I say, without giving away the ending, that the ending was miserable. Truly, the ending was so pathetic as to not make the read of the first 4/5s of the book worth it. While Mr.Ferguson does write with a sure hand, he sure runs out of creativity in the crucial final act. Unfortunatey so.

I feel cheated!