{"product_id":"my-american-unhappiness-isbn-9780547549101","title":"My American Unhappiness","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Bakopoulos has invented a man for all rainy seasons—a horny, heartbroken cousin of Richard Ford’s Frank Bascombe.” —Tom Piazza\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A winning distraction, a smart entertainment.” —\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA clairvoyant when it comes to the Starbucks orders, a renegade when it  comes to bureaucracy, Zeke asks almost everybody he meets, “Why are you  so unhappy?” The answers he receives—a mix of true sadness and absurd  complaint—become the core of an obsessive project, “The Inventory of  American Unhappiness,” a project that becomes all the more personally  meaningful as he follows steps outlined in a women’s magazine on finding  the perfect mate. Incisively tapping the voice of one of the most  charming—and deluded—narrators to come along in years, Dean Bakopolous  captures our zeitgeist with lacerating wit and a big heart, confirming  Jonathan Miles’s (author of \u003cem\u003eDear American Airlines\u003c\/em\u003e) claim that “there’s no such thing as unhappiness when you’re holding a Dean Bakopolous novel.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hilarious and heartfelt . . . This funny-sad novel seems to take  elements of the author’s own life . . . and twists them in a funhouse  mirror—with delightful results.” —NPR\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMy American Unhappiness \u003c\/em\u003e\"shimmers with mischief and offbeat charm. A dark entertainment infused by a bluesy yearning for a better America.\"\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e \"Bakopoulos writes with great heart and a cold eye, and his limpid, ironic prose will appeal to those who like the early work of Martin Amis.\"\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eMy American Unhappiness\u003c\/em\u003e is a smart, funny, charming novel - an incisive critique of the way we live now, but aremed, unlike contemporary satire, with a big, generous heart. I got addicted to the misadventures of Zeke Pappas. I didn't want the book to end.\"\u003cbr\u003e-Dan Chaon, author of \u003cem\u003eAwait Your Reply\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In Zeke Pappas, Dean Bakopoulos has invented a man for all rainy seasons - a horny, heartbroken cousin of Richard Ford's Frank Bascombe, telling a long, tall tale of anomie in the heartland.\"\u003cbr\u003e-Tom Piazza, author of \u003cem\u003eCity of Refuge\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If the nature of despair, as Kierkegaard wrote, is to be unaware of itself, then Zeke Pappas is its perfect spokesman: a blithely deluded nebbish whose epic longings—to document the emptiness at the center of American life and to win the heart of Sofia Coppola and\/or his local Starbucks barista—propel him into ever more twisted predicaments. There's no such thing as unhappiness when you're holding a Dean Bakopoulos novel in your hands.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Jonathan Miles, author of \u003cem\u003eDear American Airlines\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"Vivid as a searchlight gliding across suburban picture windows , MY AMERICAN UNHAPPINESS displays its author's saddened comic wisdom, as apparently self-effacing as it is marvelously inventive and observant. Dean Bakopoulos is a writer to watch, a novelist to cherish.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Peter Straub, author of \u003cem\u003eA Dark Matter \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"Zeke Pappas, the visionary behind the American Unhappiness project, is the perfect hero for our times - an age of J. Crew catalogs and Starbucks lattes, of political absurdities and almost-fractured families barely holding themselves together. In telling Zeke's story, Dean Bakopoulos brings together razor-sharp comic timing, brilliant social commentary, and big-hearted compassion that embraces the imperfection of American life. The result is a smart, funny and exceptionally entertaining book.\"\u003cbr\u003e-Alix Ohlin, author of \u003cem\u003eBabylon and Other Stories\u003c\/em\u003e        \"\u003cem\u003eMy American Unhappiness\u003c\/em\u003e is a major accomplishment from one of my generation's finest storytellers, a profoundly funny, moving, beautifully-detailed, and ultimately hopeful portrait of our country in a certain moment. Its self-deprecating hero, Zack Pappas, earnest, kind, and brooding, with wry intelligence and deep compassion, is indelible. I loved every page of this book. The torch has been passed -- Dean Bakopoulos is our next great Midwestern writer.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Davy Rothbart, \u003cem\u003eThe Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas: Stories\u003c\/em\u003e, founder and editor of \u003cem\u003eFound Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, contributor to public radio's\u003cem\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/em\u003e \"Dean Bakopoulos in an American prophet -- who divines the end of optimism in this brilliant new novel that will choke you with tears and laughter. \u003cem\u003eMy American Unhappiness\u003c\/em\u003e deserves a hallowed place on the shelf somewhere among Studs Terkel's \u003cem\u003eWorking \u003c\/em\u003eand Walker Percy's \u003cem\u003eThe Moviegoer. \"\u003cbr\u003e- \u003c\/em\u003eBenjamin Percy, \u003cem\u003eThe Wilding\u003c\/em\u003e  and \u003cem\u003eRefresh, Refresh\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889795985637,"sku":"NP9780547549101","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780547549101.jpg?v=1730231921","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/my-american-unhappiness-isbn-9780547549101","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}