- Paperback: 311 pages
- Publisher: Abacus; New edition edition (4 Mar 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0349111049
- ISBN-13: 978-0349111049
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.4 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 696,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'HAPPY NOW is written with a chilling perception. Settle down on the sofa with this one, but make sure you've locked the back door first' TIME OUT 'This is Iain Banks-ish territory, without the SF, but with the incest and the blood. Higson can build up a tense, nifty plot, and has the kind of ear for middle-England angst that more established writers should be jealous of.' Nicholas Lezard, GQ 'an off-beat, atmospheric novel with an underlying, quite subtle wit... Higson's a genius' MIRROR 'Higson manages to balance the extremely anti-social and mentally unstable characters with a very dark wit, so it's not only the macabre details which make this such compelling reading.' THE LIST 'Funny, fast-moving and very readable.' THE EXAMINER (IRELAND)
Product Description
'I do not believe that a man can be truly happy unless he fully understands what he is and can act accordingly ...how can it be wrong to be happy?' These lines are taken from Will's diary, a seemingly innocuous exercise book which details his house-breaking activities. Will carefully selects houses - forty-seven so far - ensuring their owners will be in. As they cook their supper or watch television, Will (wearing surgical gloves and leaving no trace behind) enters not only their houses, but their secret lives. A secret museum, housed in his loft, is 'held together by sex'. All his trophies are carefully catalogued and he keeps a very precise diary of his activities and his thoughts. All his life Tom Kendall had lived as quietly and normally as possible ...but he gave people the creeps ...'kids didn't like him, or the cat'. When Tom discovers Will's diary he decides to adopt the same quest for happiness. Tom has problems of his own - a difficult temper, problems with his girlfriend, Maddie, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Perhaps Will's diary holds the key?
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First Sentence
Tom Kendall was woken by the sounds of a cat killing the family of blackbirds which had nested in the creeper outside his bedroom window. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tom Kendall was woken by the sounds of a cat killing the family of blackbirds which had nested in the creeper outside his bedroom window. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
slick and scary,
By Saffron "Saf" (Buckinghamshire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Happy Now (Paperback)
This was the first Higson novel I have read, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised.Tom is a creature of habit, insular and increasingly frustrated by the behaviour of others. He can't interact in what he perceives to be a "normal" manner, and consequently his frustrations deepen into anger. When the husband of his much-loved but slightly distanced sister is murdered by an intruder in the family kitchen, the killer leaves behind a clue to his identity - of which i won't speak as it may spoil the plot. Tom takes it upon himself to withhold this information from the police, and decides to track him down single handedly. Tom's motivation for this action is not entirely clear, and his descent into the murkier depths of his past happens rather quickly for a man with such tightly-defined morals. However, Higson is adept at instilling that creepy, uncomfortable feeling into the reader, and for the most part his narrative is believable. I finished this bok in the early hours of the morning, and found myself tiptoeing downstairs to check that the back door was locked. (lucky I did, because it wasn't, which only made me feel more creepy). I will certainly be reading more of Higson's novels, and I would definitely recommend them to lovers of contemporary British fiction.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Desolate and unforgettable,
By
This review is from: Happy Now (Paperback)
I read "Happy Now" several years ago, and it haunts me today as much as it did when I first closed the cover.This is not the snappy comedy fun you might expect from Charlie Higson. It's a compelling character-study of a grey man searching for something bright beneath the mundane, pedestrian rhythms of normality, finding meaning, and then, ultimately... Ah, but that would be telling... Bottom line - if you want a laugh-a-minute romp with a strong storyline and great dialogue, try Hugh Laurie's excellent "The Gun Seller". If you want to delve beneath the murk of an appallingly ordinary life, and see what's underneath, Charlie Higson's "Happy Now" will reward your curiosity for years to come
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HIS BEST!,
This review is from: Happy Now (Paperback)
Quite simply his deepest and most mature work. I loved all his books for their grotesqueness and absurdity. This however looks a little deeper into the psyche.And this is not the "fast show" so don't compare!
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