Thanks to Kirk Jones for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review
You've been infected by a parasite. Your wife left you. You get a new job. Your boss is a giant fly. Your co-worker dies and becomes a ghost. Your body starts expelling Schauss pink foam. Your misery is the only thing that can save the world.
Fuck Happiness by Kirk Jones follows Milton as he navigates a world becoming increasingly surreal after his wife leaves him. He gets a job at the local Super Center in order to pay his child support and meets a co-worker who introduces him to others aware of the changes happening around them. Together they must expel purity foam if they want to reverse the changes and return the world to it's natural state. There's also Al Bundy from Married With Children, a busty Toyota Prius, a Robitussin addicted vulture, and a massive cow carcass/daycare center.
The bizarro genre is full of so much variety that while it may not be for everyone I firmly believe there really is *something* in it for everyone, and Fuck Happiness is a great example of what I personally love in a bizarro book. An individual experiencing bizarre changes to their surroundings and themself, minimal exposition to the why and how of the changes (they just are), a healthy dash of the disgusting and morbid, plenty of humor (I actually laughed out loud more than once), and purpose and meaning (even if I didn't always know the purpose or understand the meaning). There's nothing I love more than reading a book that feels like it's tailored to my preferences, and holy shit did this fit the bill!
Fuck Happiness is both accessible and incredibly readable without sacrificing it's bizarro sensibilities, making it a great read for both longtime readers and those new to the genre. So get weird, shit your pants, save the world!
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