<![CDATA[How Happy To Be]]>

false <![CDATA[How Happy To Be]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170998681m/81565.jpg 81565 2 Sharp, urban, witty, wise — this sparkling debut is the thinking woman’s answer to chick lit Maxime is an entertainment writer at a flailing neo-con newspaper. She’s been dining out too long, literally and figuratively, on a culture of celebrity worship and empty punditry. She seeks refuge from her better judgment in endless parties, ritual substance abuse, and half-hearted attempts to get herself fired, but in a libertarian newsroom where outrageous spin is the easiest way to sell papers, her bad-girl behaviour just wins her more accolades.<br><br>Along this path of self-destruction, Max’s past, comic and poignant, keeps intruding: memories of her mother’s brutal death and her hippie father’s crippling breakdown; the reappearance of an aging vegan idealist who briefly played her stepmom on the West Coast commune where she came of age; tender realizations about the bad artist she was supposed to marry and a long-lost boyfriend who seems exotically sane. When a host of prior indiscretions finally catches up with her, Maxime realizes that any chance at happiness depends on uncovering, at last, her one true story.<br><br>Set during the madness of the Toronto International Film Festival and weaving back and forth between Max’s commune past and her newsroom present, How Happy to Be portrays with razor-sharp insight and bittersweet wit a modern woman’s descent into — and eventual escape from — the deafening pop culture noise of the early twenty-first century. Intelligent, savvy, this novel marks the arrival of a remarkable new fiction talent. 78762 2006 How Happy To Be total:21|5:3|4:7|3:6|2:5|1:0| 21 71 26 3 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jun 28 15:20:15 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 15:22:13 -0700 2009 2 0 true false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Aug 03 21:19:22 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 21:25:22 -0700 2007
that being said, it is well written and at times very funny. and havi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 19 21:23:37 -0800 2007 Mon Jun 23 14:14:50 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Nov 17 17:12:53 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 17:12:53 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 16 09:11:48 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 09:11:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 12:48:05 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 12:48:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jun 07 18:22:04 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 18:22:04 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat May 16 18:49:43 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 18:49:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Apr 20 17:50:32 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 17:50:32 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Feb 25 16:46:32 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 16:46:32 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 17 18:24:28 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 18:24:28 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Dec 14 08:02:34 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 08:02:34 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Thu Oct 09 19:58:44 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 19:58:44 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Tue Sep 09 21:06:58 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 21:06:58 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Aug 09 10:47:06 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 10:47:06 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Aug 07 11:39:59 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 07 11:39:59 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jul 06 14:53:35 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 14:53:35 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Tue Jun 10 19:59:48 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 15:47:20 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 13:38:31 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 13:38:51 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Oct 17 10:28:47 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 17 10:28:47 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=81565