Happiness

June 1, 2002
Though it might seem redundant to satirize the self-help industry, Canadian writer Ferguson (Hokkaido Highway Blues) makes a heroic effort in his first novel, combining sitcom-like gags about the publishing industry with the truism that if a self-help book ever actually succeeded in its goals, it would wipe out its own market. The massive and horrible What I Learned on the Mountain, by Rajee Tupak Soiree, arrives in Edwin de Valu's slush pile and is promptly tossed in the garbage by the hapless editor. However, Mr. Mead, owner of Panderic Books, needs a self-help book to fill a hole in the fall catalogue. Edwin volunteers Tupak's magnum opus, then sets out to retrieve it from the waste system and edit it, a process that proves to be unsettling. Edwin's editorial ordeals are mitigated by his immediate boss, May Weatherhill, with whom he is carrying on an intermittent affair, although he is married to the insufferable Jenni. Eventually, the book comes out and becomes a sleeper hit: soon all of America is quitting smoking, drinking, drugging and even reading (except for Tupak's oeuvre). Edwin and Mr. Mead are so horrified by the new world they have helped create that, accompanied by Mr. Ethics, a former Panderic self-help author who is on the lam from prison, they resolve to find and kill Tupak. This is a richly imagined and at times darkly humorous book, but Ferguson's felicities are undermined by the clunky obviousness of his biggest jokes. Agent, Carolyn Swayze.

A chance encounter between American scientist Jean and Ghanaian psychiatrist Attila proves beneficial for both. However, it's listeners who benefit from Robin Miles's superb performance. She makes every moment, every encounter, every new character completely credible. Jean is studying the habits of urban foxes, while Attila, an expert on trauma, is in London to search for the teenage son of a friend who disappeared, perhaps during an immigration sweep. The two grow closer through conversations, frequently offering intelligent views on what is normal, what is cruel, and what our responsibility is to one another and to the planet. Though the story itself is a bit preachy at times with perhaps one too many coincidences for comfort, Miles is simply wonderful delivering Forna's fourth novel. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine