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Happiness TM (Paperback)

by Will Ferguson (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 309 pages
  • Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 edition (28 Feb 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841952338
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841952338
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 16.6 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 548,665 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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



Review

In this hilarious satire, acclaimed writer Will Ferguson describes what might happen if a "cure-all" self-help book actually worked.
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Self-help book with money-back guarantee, 22 Jun 2004
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.

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A chance buy but utterly compelling, 14 Feb 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Happiness TM (Paperback)
I bought this between a horrendous train journey and a horrendous tube journey and I was very glad I did. In fact I read it at every opportunity I had until I had finished it. The premise of a self-help book that works and the subsequent effects amused me and the author's handling of the subject did not disappoint me. The book was dark, full of satire and made me laugh, if not out loud (I was on the tube!) but inwardly.

The book was easy to read, not to wordy and relaxing. I like a book that is not hard work but stimulates the mind.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Save money - you'll never buy another self- help book, 24 April 2002
By A Customer
Browsing in a bookshop I picked up Happiness TM, which made me laugh so much that the assistant was giving me dirty looks and I had to buy it. Not only did it continue to make me laugh, it changed my life. I'll never need to buy another self-help book and not read it again. I'm now sending a copy to all my friends. The secret of Happiness is not what you think.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Tears Will stream down your face from to much laughter
and your sides will split, thats if you have anything of a sense of
humour if you do not find this book funny, ill take it as red your
the kind of person who thinks... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by Streakz

2.0 out of 5 stars laboured in-joke
Whilst an easy and enjoyable enough read, this supposed biting satire on the publishing industry and the self-help genre in particular is neither biting nor satirical. Read more
Published on 13 Jul 2006 by deadmanjones

5.0 out of 5 stars Great novel
This self help book really does work, and li bok, come on.

But when what works for most people can't work for everyone. That is what this book teaches us. Read more

Published on 21 Nov 2005 by Aubrey Murray

5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining read
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. Read more
Published on 27 May 2004 by A. T. Cook

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as promising
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... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2003 by mrs_chefe

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun-tastic
Thoroughly recommend this book. I had never heard of this author until I saw it in the bookshop... I was puzzled by the title and the theme and felt compelled to investigate the... Read more
Published on 1 May 2003

2.0 out of 5 stars Not happy
After expecting great things based on glowing reviews, I have to admit I struggled through this supposedly "hilarious" satire on self-help culture. Read more
Published on 10 April 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight!
I read a review of this book in the newspaper that claimed it was inspired by a throwaway comment a literary agent made to Will Ferguson. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2003 by C. M. Perkins

5.0 out of 5 stars America stand corrected!!!
I first bought this book based on a review I read in the 'Big Issue'on it. I was intrigued so I bought it. I have to say, this book is fantastic! Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2002 by blackeyed38

5.0 out of 5 stars Go out and buy it.! Live! Love! Learn!
I laughed out loud reading this book -- and there can be no better recommendation as far as I am concerned. In fact I liked it so much I would give it six stars if I could. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2002 by Barton Keyes

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