“Happiness™” by Will Ferguson (Canada)

Synopsis

When one of those irritating self-help books actually gets it right, then unnatural and worrying times are just around the corner…

While the rest of the country is joining the new Happiness™ cult, Edwin (the wiry, grey-suited, low-level editor at US publisher Panderic Press) is in trouble. A cartel of drug, alcohol, tobacco and drug-rehab bosses have a contract out on him.

It’s all the fault of the mysterious Tupak Soiree, and his book What I Learned on the Mountain. But who is Tupak? And how can Edwin stop the world from succumbing to this plague of Happiness™?

Will Ferguson has created a comic masterpiece, a brutal satire of modern times.

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Review

“Happiness™” is a satirical novel that plays with the concept of self-help culture and the publishing industry. While it offers a promising premise, especially for readers curious about how the perfect self-help book might wreak havoc, opinions on its execution varied. On the one hand, readers found parts of the book genuinely funny, and the author’s bombastic characters and cinematic style provided bursts of entertainment. The exploration of the publishing industry added a layer of sharp critique that felt relevant and biting. However, the story occasionally wandered into tangents that felt wild and disjointed, and some readers found the initial sections irritating, with characters that come off as one-dimensional.

Readers agreed that, from the middle, the book becomes an easier, more enjoyable read, though the final sections felt somewhat rushed, like the author was scrambling to tie up loose ends. Despite these challenges, the postscript ending added a surprising layer of depth and meaning, making the story feel more cohesive by the end. While some readers found Ferguson’s parodies a bit overdone or felt like he was on a personal rant, others thought there was enough humour and wit to make “Happiness™” a light, if uneven, read.

This first book of Season 25 scored 6.9 out of 10, an unexpectedly low score to start off this 20^th anniversary season.

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Nicola’s Book Club reading list

Season 25 – 20^th anniversary (Oct 2024 – Jun 2025)

“Happiness™” by Will Ferguson (Canada)
“A Long Petal of the Sea” by Isabel Allende (Chile)
“Claire of the Sea Light” by Edwidge Danticat (Haiti) *
“Beyond the Door of No Return” by David Diop (Senegal)
“Happiness” by Aminatta Forna (UK – London)
“No One Prayed Over Their Graves” by Khaled Khalifa (Syria)
“How We Disappeared” by Jing-Jing Lee (Singapore)
“Amnesia” by Peter Carey (Australia)

* The book club favourite
In italics, Nicola’s Coup de Cœur