| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
"The Age of Nice is at hand, and there's nothing we can do about it." But the main protagonist of Will Ferguson's Happinesss 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. Not just the murderous cartel of drug and tobacco barons who want Edwin's head on a plate. Also 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 realise, except that Happiness clubs its readers into submission with the sort of zany, almost other-worldly wit that makes us profoundly glad to be alive. --Matthew Baylis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
What might happen if one of those self-help books actually worked? All America appears to be joining the HappinessT cult - but the book's low-level editor at Pandaric Press now has a contract out on him by a cartel of drug, alcohol, tobacco and drug-rehab bosses! A hugely acclaimed comic masterpiece.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite as promising,
By mrs_chefe "mrs_chefe" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happiness TM (Paperback)
Although it starts off well, Will Ferguson's book loses momentum along the way. This biting satire into the self-help world starts to get lost in too much repetition and becomes more laboured. The characters aren't developed beyond stereotypes and after a point, you cease caring what atually becomes of them. That said, it is an entertaining read and it's good to see a writer taking a shot at some of the self-help dross that gets served up today!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Self-help book with money-back guarantee,
This review is from: Happiness TM (Paperback)
Edwin de Valu is your typical American Gen-X anti-hero. Each day he stumbles out into the roar of a city he hates, to a job he hates, with a baby-boomer boss he hates. He lives beyond his means in a trendy rehabbed neighbourhood with a wife he, well, doesn't like very much. It's the contemporary, urban, American dream! As editor of the non-fiction division of Panderic Books, Edwin is put on the spot during a meeting. He has been promising an idea to fill the gap in Panderic's up-coming catalogue - 'What I Learned on the Mountain', by Tupak Soiree, is a typewritten manuscript covered with stick-on daisies and a hand written note on the bottom of the title page, which reads, "Live, Love, and Learn". Hardly the kind of sentiment Edwin is likely to applaud, but it's too late, he's pitched it and his boss loves it.This turns out to be a self-help book actually works. Its readers become fabulously rich, quit smoking, and have enhanced sexual prowess. Unfortunately, it turns out that a society full of enriched, happy people has dire consequences. Oprah and the founders of buddhism and New Age would think again, if they read this book. The humour in Happiness TM is needless to embrace - from Canada to Denmark via England, Ferguson's laissez-faire satire proves itself universally insightful. Now, for the idea of this anti-hero being the Satre of 21st century... perhaps. He enlights the issues of instant gratifaction/gloricifation and concludes that our vices make us the protagonists we are - not by mocking the people who try and fail, but the people who succeed. For people like me who hate the way the world's turning - this is a must-read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very entertaining read,
By A. T. Cook (Eastham, Wirral England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happiness TM (Paperback)
I normally read one book a year, but this book took me all of three days. I couldn't put it down. I bought it because my wife is very much into the self help culture. I recognised her and her friends on every page.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction
- Books > Fiction > Humour
- Books > Humour > Fiction
- Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction
- Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humour
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
