- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (1 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 006052510X
- ISBN-13: 978-0060525101
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.5 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 199,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"Grand Avenue cuts through the very heart of the city, from 71st Street all the way to the harbourfront, and although it is eight lanes wide, with a treed boulevard running down the middle, the Avenue feels claustrophobic and narrow." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"Grand Avenue cuts through the very heart of the city, from 71st Street all the way to the harbourfront, and although it is eight lanes wide, with a treed boulevard running down the middle, the Avenue feels claustrophobic and narrow." Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format: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 - a gap created by the prosecution of Mr Ethics, Panderic's biggest self help author, for tax evasion. Before he knows it, Edwin is pitching a book found in his "slush pile" that morning.' 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.
Edwin rushes from the meeting to retrieve 'What I Learned on the Mountain' from his rubbish bin and finds it missing. A chase for the book, and subsequently its author, ensues. Along the way Edwin discovers that the 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 for the world economy and eventually someone figures out Edwin is responsible.
Edwin rushes from the meeting to retrieve 'What I Learned on the Mountain' from his rubbish bin and finds it missing. A chase for the book, and subsequently its author, ensues. Along the way Edwin discovers that the 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 for the world economy and eventually someone figures out Edwin is responsible.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you work in the area of self-help or have read lots of self-help books then you will love this book. It is a hugely enjoyable read from cover to cover. Watch out you won't want to put it down!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Absolutely fantastic book - I have read it six times, and it just gets better and better. I liked it so much, I recommended it to my University lecturer & he might put it on our course!
As well as well as being a brilliant 'laugh-out-loud' book, it is also a satirical look on American society. I think there is a little bit of Edwin de Valu in us all.
Definately worth £6. BUY IT!
As well as well as being a brilliant 'laugh-out-loud' book, it is also a satirical look on American society. I think there is a little bit of Edwin de Valu in us all.
Definately worth £6. BUY IT!
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