Happy Cruelty Day!: Daily Celebrations of Quiet Desperation

by Bob Powers

For everyone looking to find a little extra magic in a life with little to celebrate, Happy Cruelty Day! is here. Beginning on January 1, this book features 365 new holidays, each accompanied by a strange, dark and humorous short story explaining the day you woke up in and how to celebrate it. These 365 daily doses of delight, perversion, and nonsense include "Hire Someone Attractive To Pretend To Love You Day," "Hang on to Your Wide-Eyed Innocence Day," "Sit in Abject Terror Day," and, of course, "Cruelty Day."Far more than just a humor book, Happy Cruelty Day! is like a daily instructional manual written by a psychopath. On one page, the book has you joining a community crime watch group in an effort to make friends (it won't work). Flip the page, and you'll find the details of your attempt to rescue your husband from a POW camp (you'll fail). Flip it again, and Happy Cruelty Day! will have important insight into how best to befriend a runaway teen (offer her some soup).These holidays celebrate everything from that pivotal point in your life when everything changes, to the day you're not going to do anything but sit on the edge of your bed and get very drunk. When people realize they've fallen in love, or when they realize their love was just a lie. And of course, when love of whatever incarnation brings an index finger to clench tight around the trigger of a gun.Raw, ridiculous, and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a sharp-edged satire on the subtleties, shallowness, and stupidity of daily life.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Short Stories, Comedy

416 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2006

Reviews

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sasha leant me this book, and explained that it would make me a far worse person than I actually am.

This collection of short stories, if you will, indeed had that effect. More often than not I found myself laughing harder than I'd care to admit at truly horrifying prospects. In particular "Some of the Cats Day" struck me as hilarious, along with "Cruelty Day."

Sasha, you like really, really, really strange books.

I'm very grateful for that.

[Isaiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.

This is one of those books that I took from the boyfriend thinking it was something I would like. I am very much a morbid, dark humor sort of person. I thought this would hit me right in the feels. Instead it was mildly funny, mostly annoying, and pretty much forgettable.

The idea was pretty fantastic. The problem is I like to read books from beginning to end in a short period of time. This book is not something you can do that with. If you just read this as a book, then it is very tiresome and pretty much unreadable. If this was read a short bit at a time or one day at a time then it might have been more amusing.

Add in instances of transphobia like on page 42. The author refers to a “transgender male” but is actually talking about a trans woman. The joke is completely lost in this microagression against trans women. I don’t see why white cis males think it is funny to talk about trans women the way they do. I lost all respect for the book at that point. Problem was there were so many more pages after.

While this could have been an amazing book if the author didn’t stoop to microagression against oppressed groups. If he instead had more passages about how white males use the social justice movements to get laid, that would have been funny. I did actually share that with someone else who is very active in the social justice world and they laughed quite hard. However, I had to stop them from reading more as the rest of the book is not as friendly.

This book is hit or miss and not meant to be read as a book, but instead as a small break when you have a few minutes.

[Deva]

I can't figure out how to rate this. Considered as a whole, I think the concept is funny but it ends up being a little too much. With so many entries, the novelty wore off by the end. In smaller doses, it's pretty entertaining. It's fun to look through and see what HCD holiday corresponds with things like your birthday, Christmas, etc. Some holidays are better than others. My favorite is Your New Robotic Arm Day.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, was this book awful. I picked it up thinking that it would be funny, but in fact it is just offensive. Avoid at all costs if you are not okay (like me) with language like "retard" and "faggot." I wish I could give negative stars.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should’ve read this as soon as I bought it instead of waiting 12 years. I guess I’m too old to find this funny.

[Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is misery so funny. Why is life so cruel. Its ont an it is.

[Lauren White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me so happy, this book does.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

You never really stop reading this book - it has a task/suggestion for each day of the year, i.e. May 9 - If the Coffee Shop Waitress Touches Your Palm When She Gives You Your Change, She Totally Wants It Day!, or January 7 - Join a Community Crime Watch Program In An Effort To Make Friends Day!, or April 2 - Visit With Your Assassin Friend Day!.
It's very funny and very strange and it'll both make you chuckle and sometimes scratch your head. The best ones are when you can do both for the same entry.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise of Happy Cruelty Day is that there is some awful, morbid, completely depressing situation to acknowledge each day of the year - to celebrate the cruel, bizarre, and too-dark-to-think-about. Of course, this is hilarious, and right up my alley.

The best celebration I've read so far is February 15: Lie To Your Cats About The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ Day. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. You just have to read it.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed from beginning to end, went back to my favorite days, and laughed some more. This book came from a Dirt Cheap store and it was dirt cheap humor, but I liked it. If you have a gaggle of friends that you seem to lose all sense of maturity around (and them to you), read it with them. Most appreciated with a glass of wine... and by glass I mean bottle.

[Rel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice party trick. The blurbs are pretty funny and good. I recommend browsing a copy if you ever come across one, and seeing if Happy Cruelty Day is for you, because not only is it a fun book; it's also a useful paradigm. It's a good thing to know about. And it will probably maybe hopefully make you laugh. It's worth checking out from the library, and even (even) owning a copy of.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to Will Cuppy's "How to Get From January-December". Another excellent book.

August 1st is "Just Because You Can't Remember Anything About Last Night, It Doesn't Necessarily Mean That You're an Alcoholic" Day. Enough said.

[Stuart Stutzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (along with Jeffrey Brown's "Clumsy") drove me to really take my writing seriously. It is hilarious, painful, and at times, utterly moving. If you have a sense of humor, you need to read this book.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Powers should be revered as a God among men and ladies.

[Vanessa King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE book for that tristed somebody in your life. My personal favorite is "Lie to your cats about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ Day!"

Also, check out girlsarepretty.com

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Works as a blog; does not work as a book. The editors should have picked and chosen the 30 or 40 best "Girls Are Pretty" columns, rather than printing a full year's worth of material like they did.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've wanted to write like this guy ever since I first found his Web site, girlsarepretty.com.

[Nic · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a strange book.

[Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be one of the greatest books written. Ever. My favorite day would be "14 Ways to Tell a Cajun Chef to Go Fuck Himself Day".

[Jennifer Glick]

Hilariously depressing.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a bunch of little Raymond Carver stories, some more fucked up, some less.

[Amanda Rajewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powers is a god among men. Lisez-ça.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange and entertaining book that will most certainly take your mind off of the mundane details of life or the seemingly insurmountable obstacles we all must face.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I give to people.

[Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny, especially in short doses. Very dark and clever, but can get formulaic if too many days are read in a short sitting.

[Walker van Uitert · Rating 5 out of 5]

very evil but in a hilarious way

[Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foul, hysterical and always inappropriate!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, so bizarre but so, so delectable. I laughed out loud at several anecdotes in this book.