num_pages: 320
description: An emotional balancing act of Herculean proportions, Will Ferguson's debut novel is somehow both caustically cynical and touchingly humane. Its message: there is no happiness without sadness. The pursuit of happiness is all--actually attaining it, if that were even possible, would be death. When Edwin de Valu, an editor at Panderic Press, finds What I Learned on the Mountain, a self-help book by an unknown author, Tupak Soiree, on his slush pile and publishes it, suddenly millions of people believe that pursuit is over. "Apocalypse Nice" has arrived, and Edwin's cynical side goes into high gear trying to save the world from itself. On this hysterical (in every sense of the word) quest, Edwin receives little help from his credulous wife, his plump co-worker (and sometime lover) May, or his ponytailed baby-boomer boss, Mr. Mead.  This wacky, lightweight novel mixes elements from Dilbert, Woody Allen, grainy art films, and P.J. O'Rourke. While Ferguson lines up a number of easy targets and can be way too obvious ("The Name of the Tulip" echoes a certain highbrow mystery), he can also write with flair, as in describing Edwin's city: "Here, in a miasma of fumes, trains rattle-bang on an endless Möbius strip of work, sweat, salt and grubby lucre. A merry-go-round where the horses have emphysema." --Mark Frutkin
language: English
title: Generica
titlecomplete: Generica
characters: Edwin de Valu
genres: Comedy, Self Help, Adult, Adult Fiction, Humor, Novels, Literature, Contemporary, Fiction, Canada
ratings_count: 3562
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize
category: Comic Fiction, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Canadian Authors Association Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Penguin Canada