Spectacular Happiness
A Novel
Peter D. Kramer
- In
- his
- bestselling
- Listening
- to
- Prozac,
- Peter
- Kramer
- asked
- how
- much
- happiness
- we
- have
- a
- right
- to
- expect,
- and
- how
- quickly
- we
- should
- demand
- it.
- In
- Should
- You
- Leave?
- he
- questioned
- whether
- trading
- up
- has
- replaced
- loyalty
- in
- intimate
- relationships.
- Critics
- have
- praised
- his
- intellect
- and
- writing,
- comparing
- him
- to
- Roth
- and
- Updike,
- and
- have
- anticipated
- his
- turn
- to
- fiction.
Now
- Kramer
- has
- made
- that
- transition.
- Spectacular
- Happiness
- is
- a
- daring,
- controversial
- novel
- about
- what
- constitutes
- the
- good
- life.
- Chip
- Samuels
- is
- a
- community
- college
- teacher
- and
- handyman
- on
- Cape
- Cod,
- loyal
- to
- the
- radical
- values
- his
- wife,
- Anais,
- introduced
- him
- to
- in
- the
- sixties.
- A
- patient
- husband
- and,
- above
- all,
- a
- loving
- father,
- his
- world
- has
- been
- shattered
- by
- Anais's
- decision
- to
- run
- off
- with
- their
- son
- in
- search
- of
- a
- more
- conventional
- life
- devoted
- to
- getting
- and
- spending.
Spectacular
- Happiness
- opens
- when
- Chip
- is
- named
- as
- the
- chief
- suspect
- in
- a
- series
- of
- anarchist
- bombings
- of
- beachfront
- trophy
- homes.
- Meticulously
- planned,
- announced
- with
- fireworks,
- these
- explosions
- have
- caught
- the
- public
- imagination,
- and
- the
- irony
- is
- that
- Chip,
- now
- an
- outlaw-celebrity,
- is
- drawn
- into
- the
- publicity-based
- culture
- he
- is
- aiming
- to
- disrupt.
- His
- response:
- to
- assemble
- a
- memoir
- for
- his
- estranged
- son,
- a
- father's
- attempt
- to
- explain
- his
- motivations
- before
- the
- media
- distorts
- them.
Chip
- has
- splendid
- allies:
- Sukey
- Kuykendahl,
- an
- upper-class
- Realtor
- with
- weaknesses
- for
- alcohol
- and
- overbearing
- men;
- Wendy
- Moro,
- a
- self-effacing
- defense
- attorney
- thrust
- into
- the
- limelight;
- and
- Manny
- Abelman,
- an
- aging
- psychotherapist
- disenchanted
- with
- his
- profession.
- But
- it
- is
- Chip's
- own
- voice
- that
- dominates
- the
- novel,
- concerned,
- searching,
- painfully
- aware
- of
- the
- absurd
- behaviors
- love
- can
- demand.
Darkly
- intelligent,
- Spectacular
- Happiness
- will
- alter
- the
- way
- we
- look
- both
- at
- oversized
- beachfront
- mansions
- and
- at
- the
- culture
- that
- spawns
- them,
- the
- culture
- Chip
- calls
- the
- society
- of
- the
- spectacle.
- Provocative,
- compelling,
- stunning
- in
- its
- execution,
- this
- is
- the
- masterful
- first
- novel
- that
- Kramer's
- nonfiction
- has
- led
- his
- readers
- and
- reviewers
- to expect.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
