50
Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's Books
Cart |
|  my account  |  wish list  |  help   |  800-878-7323
Hello, | Login
MENU
  • Browse
    • New Arrivals
    • Bestsellers
    • Featured Preorders
    • Award Winners
    • Audio Books
    • See All Subjects
  • Used
  • Staff Picks
    • Staff Picks
    • Picks of the Month
    • Bookseller Displays
    • 50 Books for 50 Years
    • 25 Best 21st Century Sci-Fi & Fantasy
    • 25 PNW Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books From the 21st Century
    • 25 Memoirs to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Global Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Women to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books to Read Before You Die
  • Gifts
    • Gift Cards & eGift Cards
    • Powell's Souvenirs
    • Journals and Notebooks
    • socks
    • Games
  • Sell Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Find A Store

PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

Guests

Everyone Called Me "Happy"

by Alex Lemon, December 29, 2009 10:30 AM
I have nystagmus and diplopia and chronic pain and ataxia, and I can tell that I'm nervous and excited that my new book is out today because all of my regular, day-to-day symptoms are worse.

In 1997, when I was 19 years old, I suffered my first brain bleed. A vascular malformation in the pons of my brainstem had leaked: my vision bounced, I fell to my right, my face felt numb. Because the malformation was deep in my brainstem, and the neurologists thought another brain bleed wasn't likely, they recommended not doing anything about it. So I didn't do anything about it, and when I returned to Macalester College, I pretended that everything was fine and covered up my depression, anxiety, and self-loathing by partying. Everyone called me "Happy."

I more or less started to lose my mind, and in moments of clarity, I had to face what I saw myself as: a dying monster. I carried the legacy of childhood sexual abuse and a Sisyphusian fear: of harming someone, of my body failing, of pretty much everything. I was 19 years old and to make it though the days I had to detach from reality.

I started sketching ideas for Happy in 2004, when I was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota but the shape of the narrative didn't crystallize until 2006. I've been working on it since.

I know some sensibilities will be offended by the book — it can be raw — but whether a jock or artist or deadbeat or hipster or academic all-star or whatever — more young men use alcohol and drugs and suffer from mental illness than many people think. It has less to do with one's thought about what "good" and "bad" kids do or say and the often-dismissed reality of how many young people live.

In the end, Happy is much more than a story about medical trauma, or addiction, or brain surgery during hurricanes. It is a love story. It is a story about a mother and a son. A son who learns how to love himself and, for the first time, truly feel his mother's unending love.




{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##

Most Read

  1. Best Books of 2022: Fiction by Powell's Staff
  2. The Big List of Backlist: Books That Got Us Through 2022 by Powell's Staff
  3. 25 Books to Read Before You Die: 21st Century by Powell's Staff
  4. Powell's 2023 Book Preview: The First Quarter by Powell's Staff
  5. 7 Essential Authors Recommend Their 7 Essential Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books by Powell's Staff

Blog Categories

  • Interviews
  • Original Essays
  • Lists
  • Q&As
  • Playlists
  • Portrait of a Bookseller
  • City of Readers
  • Required Reading
  • Powell's Picks Spotlight

Post a comment:

*Required Fields
Name*
Email*
  1. Please note:
  2. All comments require moderation by Powells.com staff.
  3. Comments submitted on weekends might take until Monday to appear.
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

  • Help
  • Guarantee
  • My Account
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Security
  • Wish List
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping
  • Transparency ACT MRF
  • Sitemap
  • © 2023 POWELLS.COM Terms