My American Unhappiness - Paperback

by Dean Bakopoulos (Author)

"Bakopoulos has invented a man for all rainy seasons--a horny, heartbroken cousin of Richard Ford's Frank Bascombe." --Tom Piazza

Front Jacket

""My American Unhappiness" 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." --Davy Rothbart, founder and editor of "Found"

A clairvoyant when it comes to the Starbucks orders of strangers, a quixotic renegade when it comes to the federal bureaucracy, and a devoted believer in the afternoon cocktail and the evening binge, Zeke Pappas is a thirty‑three‑year‑old scholar who 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 his obsessive project, "The Inventory of American Unhappiness." Zeke, meanwhile, remains delightfully oblivious to the increasingly harsh realities that threaten his daily routine, opting instead to focus his energy on finding the perfect mate so that he can gain custody of his orphaned nieces. Following steps outlined in a women's magazine, the ever‑optimistic Zeke identifies some "prospects" a newly divorced neighbor, a coffeehouse barista, his administrative assistant, and Sofia Coppola ("Why not aim high?").

One of the most charmingly deluded narrators to come along in years, Zeke has an irreverent voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit and heart‑on‑sleeve emotion, underscored by a creeping paranoia and made more urgent by the hope that if he can only find a wife, he might have a second chance at life.

Back Jacket

Bakopoulos has invented a man for all rainy seasons a horny, heartbroken cousin of Richard Ford s Frank Bascombe. Tom Piazza
A winning distraction, a smart entertainment. New York Times Book Review
A 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 Dear American Airlines) claim that there s no such thing as unhappiness when you re holding a Dean Bakopolous novel.
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
[author photo]

Dean Bakopoulos, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, teaches creative writing and literature at Grinnell College and in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. His first novel, Please Don t Come Back from the Moon, was a New York Times Notable Book.

Author Biography

Dean Bakopoulos, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, teaches creative writing and literature at Grinnell College and in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. His first novel, Please Don't Come Back from the Moon, was a New York Times Notable Book.