‘Happiness Economics’ by Shari Lapeña

Reviewed by Thomas Trofimuk

As I was reading Shari Lapeña’s brilliant new novel, I was reminded of one of my favourite bands – Steely Dan. I know it’s ludicrous to compare literature to music, but bear with me. Steely Dan is a band that is widely acknowledged as a musicians’ band. I mean, they made intriguing and fascinating songs that were incredibly complex and catchy, and they made it all sound easy. They were, and still are, cerebral, wry and eccentric. But if you actually understood the musicianship and skill it took to make it sound so easy, you were taken aback by what they were doing. I thought that was where Happiness Economics was going.

This is not where Lapeña took me. Yes, this is a very smart book that explores some ideas that are near-and-dear to the hearts of writers of poetry and fiction. And yes, here is a grand, quite wonderful boxing match between poetry (represented by Will Thorne) and economics (represented by his wife Judy). The prize is happiness.

This is a beautifully realized exploration of a family in a big city with all the struggles of marriage and school life, and love and lust. In the background of this mostly normal family, are the beginning movements of a worldwide recession and the realization that while poets may not know much about economics, really, neither do economists. There’s a bigger truth at risk and Lapeña opens all the right doors. The Thorne family is doing the best they can, and that’s why it’s a riveting story.

Will is a stay-at-home poet-dad to kids Zoe and Alex. He has been working on his novel-in-poems for ten years and is nowhere near finishing. He is a picture of failure in his wife’s eyes. His poems have not brought the fame she imagined for them, for their family, and for Will – well, okay, mostly for her. See! I cared so much about Judy that I’m trying to protect her in a review! And I never root for the economist! Bottom line: there have been no national awards, no recognition of Will’s brilliance – in fact, there hasn’t been a book. Will is completely blocked and often depressed – with brief excursions into despair.

Judy is executive vice-president and global economic strategist with the Accelerated Financial Group in Toronto. She sees happiness as something that can and must be measured. If you have certain things, if they are the right things, you must automatically be happy. She sees her husband’s struggle with words as a black and white problem – she believes poetry is making him unhappy – get rid of poetry and he won’t be unhappy anymore.

Underscoring the entire book is a fully realized discussion of the muse. What is the muse? How does the muse work? Where would one go to find a muse? Once a muse is there, hovering in the back of the artist’s brain, how do you keep her, or him, there? For Will, the muse appears at a poetry reading in the guise of one Lilly White, who is there with a convicted and wanted felon. Will forgives Lilly’s bad poetry and is so enchanted that he actually tries to save her when Lilly’s felon friend pulls a gun. Will and his poetry cohorts are soon involved with Lilly, in the name of poetry. The Poets’ Preservation Society is formed – supported by Judy because it just may keep Will so busy that he won’t write poetry anymore. And as a trade off for Judy’s organizational and financial support, Will agrees to go to work for an advertising agency, writing tag-lines, slogans and headlines. It’s inside this soulless work writing slogans to sell toilet paper that he first realizes that Lilly is his muse.

I thought Happiness Economics was going to be this amazing “writers’ book” – a book that small groups of writers, huddled in the dark corners of bars and lounges across the planet – would talk about. They’d whisper about Lapeña’s ideas in hushed and reverent voices. There would be Happiness Economics cults. They’d talk about scenes like this one, which is set in a lounge:

“The problem is nobody reads anymore,” Will lamented. “Except for non-fiction,” he added. His wife wrote non-fiction.

“What about thrillers?” Freddie asked but was ignored.

“People don’t read and they don’t buy books anymore,” the waiter agreed.

“Yeah. Why is that?” Freddie asked petulantly.

“Well, there’s all that film and TV,” the waiter said. “And the Internet and computer games and Facebook.”

The others nodded, in grudging agreement.

“Not to mention, books are getting pretty expensive. I try to pick them up on remainder whenever I can,” the waiter admitted. He sighed. “It’s so fucking competitive—everybody I know is trying to write a novel.”

“It seems like everybody is writing, but nobody’s buying books,” Will agreed.

“Writing is the new reading!” observed their waiter glumly.

Now, this cult status still may happen – I don’t know. But this is a bigger book than just a writers’ book. It is a big rollicking, lusty book filled with characters who get in you and stay – I dare you to not love and care about these people. It’s a rewarding story, a beautifully unraveled journey. It’s as clever has hell and filled with massive heart. Happiness Economics is a Brava! performance by a writer to watch.