LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Dazzlingly zeitgeisty, Hanna Jameson’s Are You Happy Now? cuts to the core of our times, exploring what it means to be happy, to love, and to live in the heightened context of a mystery psychogenic illness. It’s an un-put-down-able blast of story-telling genius — dark, smart, and funny with it.
When four friends gather at a wedding in New York, at different stages of different roads to finding fulfilment in their professional and personal lives, one of the guests is taken ill. She sits down and won’t get up. She seems to be in some kind of catatonic state, but what’s the cause? Can it be cured? It seems to be a prolonged anxiety attack, but no one knows what’s wrong with her. This is just the first instance of a global phenomenon that comes to be termed “psychogenic catatonia” or “psychogenic death”. Essentially, it seems the afflicted are giving up on life.
As cases and casualties escalate around the world, the “sitters”, as they’re later termed, are almost seen as an inconvenience, such is the scale of the phenomenon, with mass occurrences at big gatherings. Is it a collective expression of nihilism? Are the afflicted choosing to do this? Is it an act of selfishness? And why do so many want in on the act?
Against this intense, terrifying backdrop, the novel’s brilliantly drawn characters are experiencing their own individual existential crises, and practical ones, too. Can I make rent this month? Can I pay my hospital bills? Do I really want to be with this person? Am I living a lie?
Part coming-of-age story, part nihilistic exposé, Are You Happy Now? is wholly compulsive.
Joanne Owen
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Are You Happy Now Synopsis
'Jameson channels the righteous anger of a generation' Luzia Sauma 'An eerie, fascinating, nihilistic triumph' Heather Darwent ----- At a New York City wedding, on a sweltering summer night, four people are trying to be happy. Yun has everything he ever wanted, but somehow it's never enough. Emory is finally making her mark, but feels the shame more than the success. Andrew is trying to be honest, but has lied to himself his whole life. Fin can't resist falling in love, but can't help wrecking it all either. And then the world begins to end. The four of them watch as one of the wedding guests sits down and refuses to get back up. Soon it's happening across the world. Is it a choice or an illness? Because how can anyone be happy in a world where the only choice is to feel everything - or nothing at all? An intensely compulsive novel for anyone who has ever felt hopeful and helpless in one breath, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW is about how you keep living when the world is on fire. Perfect for fans of Emily John St. Mandel's Station Eleven, Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Patricia Lockwood's Nobody is Talking About This and Naomi Alderman's The Power. ----- Praise for Hanna Jameson: 'Such a brilliant concept, perfectly executed' Araminta Hall, Hidden Depths 'Furious and tender . . . cuts to the core of modern life' Jessica Moor, Keeper 'A compelling meditation on fear, hope, grief and the difficulty of imagining a future in a world in crisis' The Bookseller 'Yun, Emory, Andrew & Fin buried themselves into my heart' Nikki Smith, The Beach Party 'Extraordinary' Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven 'One of those books you can't stop reading, but don't want to end' TM Logan, The Holiday 'Dark, compelling, original' CJ Tudor, The Burning Girls 'Compulsively readable' Daily Telegraph
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780241992630 |
| Publication date: |
2nd November 2023 |
| Author: |
Hanna Jameson |
| Publisher: |
Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
361 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Hanna Jameson Press Reviews
Channels the righteous anger of a generation -- Luizia Sauma, Everything You Ever Wanted Extraordinary -- Emily St John Mandel on THE LAST A fascinating, nihilistic triumph -- Heather Darwent, The Things We Do To Our Friends
Author
About Hanna Jameson
Hanna Jameson drafted Something You Are when she was just 17. She has lived in Australia, and travelled Europe, Japan and the USA with bands such as the Manic Street Preachers. She is studying American Literature at the University of Sussex.
Author photo © Benn Grubb Photography
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