My American Unhappiness

by Dean Bakopoulos

"Why are you so unhappy?" That's the question that Zeke Pappas, a thirty-three-year-old scholar, asks almost everybody he meets as part of an obsessive project, "The Inventory of American Unhappiness." The answers he receives—a mix of true sadness and absurd complaint—create a collage of woe. 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?").

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 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.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, Book Club, Literary Fiction, American, Realistic Fiction

277 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Dean Bakopoulos was born in Dearborn Heights, Michigan on July 6, 1975 to a Ukrainian mother and a Greek father. A child of immigrants, he grew up speaking both Ukrainian and English, was shy to the point of psychosis, and avoided group gatherings and rarely left his mother's side. He ate copious amounts of borscht and cabbage rolls. When his grandfather, Gregory Smolij, retired from 25 years on the line at Ford Rouge, there was a large party in his grandparents' basement. This is Dean's first memory and, in it, his family was brilliantly happy and jubilant. He memorized the 1981 NFL records book and recited football stats to all willing ears. When Chuck Long made his first start for the Detroit Lions, he was allowed to stay up and watch Monday Night Football. He wrote his first short story at age seven. It was called "I Get Trapped."

At puberty, he suddenly became very outgoing. Nobody could shut him up. He was either maniacally optimistic or indefatigably sullen in his demeanor; he wept far too often for a young man. A wimp! A sensitive little wimp! During high school, he recalls only one broken heart (she knows who she is), two fistfights, and an embarrassingly earnest desire to drink enough to be the next Hemingway. He went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and, while in school, worked as a writer for WWJ News Radio in Detroit. After graduating in 1997, he got married, moved to Wisconsin, worked on a horse farm for a spell (the best job he ever had), and then became the buyer for Canterbury Booksellers, which once was a bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin but is no longer one.

Later, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin MFA program, was a Tennessee Williams scholar at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and finished his first novel, Please Don't Come Back from the Moon (Harcourt), which has just been released. After a year of steady training at a place called the Monkey Bar, he was able to do a surprisingly high number of push-ups and chin-ups. In 2004, the Virginia Quarterly Review included him in an issue announcing Fiction's New Luminaries. This made him happy for months. You would not guess it, but a very famous American poet once called him (in all seriousness) a "youthful, effervescent dancer" after a gathering at the Breadloaf Writers' Conference. This has made him happy for years. When he does not get enough sleep, he is not worth knowing or being near. He lives in Mineral Point, Wisconsin with his family.

Reviews

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realize, compared to most goodread reviewers, I like a lot of shitty books. Well, if you look at most reviews of this particular book, most people gave it a low score. When I try to read the books with an average rating of four or higher, I usually have a hard time getting into them. Zeke Pappas is probably the most unlikable character I've come across in a fully read book, yet I enjoyed the book to the fullest extent, minus one-star. How did the writer manifest such a feat within me? Maybe, deep down, way below my true character, to a certain degree, this unlikable character reminded me of me. Eeew. This guy reminded me of the ugly, pathetic side most of us have but fortunately are strong and smart enough to block from coming out. Who knows? This is the side, when it does try and come out, you are usually on a therapists' couch, I'm assuming. This Zeke was a train wreck, but nobody was hurt but Zeke. He was oblivious and unprepared for the events taking place around him and seeing that from a mile away while the protagonist didn't, made me want to keep turning the pages. Bottom line, to me, this book was pathetic, touching, entertaining at points, even somewhat philosophical in certain aspects. Also, it touched my very liberal side as well. That's always a plus in my book. Zeke, I hate you, but thanks for an entertaining read. Even your name I fucking hated, btw.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an unsettlingly, crushingly sad book. It reads like a breezy, light story, but the ocean of unsaid is what makes the book great. There's a truth behind the words, suggested but ignored by our "unreliable narrator", that forms the basis of the true story. The story you read, and the story you'll intuit. Among all the books I've read this year, this is the one I think about the most. And it makes me melancholy every time.

As a side note, the 1- and 2-star reviews that complain that the book is too sad, or that the main character is unlike-ably depressing are killing me. That's sort of the point of the book - that's why the title is "My American Unhappiness". There's something uniquely American about the unwillingness to look sadness, failure and tragedy in the eye. So the 1-star reviews are sort of meta-endorsements that Bakopoulos has hit a nerve.

[TAP]

...sadness is caused by something sad—a sorrowful event of sorts. And it’s a natural reaction. Unhappiness is simply the absence of happiness. We go about as if happiness should be our default condition, you see. When we find ourselves in some other condition, well, we are unhappy.

Read for class.

[Gary the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeke Pappas, is the engaging, and unreliable, chronicler of American unhappiness in this absurd, sad and funny second novel by Dean Bakapoulos. He begins to unravel personally and professionally as he embarks on a search for a wife in this disturbing view of America during George Bush's recent reign of error. Unfortunately his greatest asset is a talent to predict what a stranger will order at Starbucks.

He spends his days and nights lusting after pictures of models from J Crew catalogues, drinking and making passes at women he barely knows. While this may sound off-putting, he does surprising well with these trivial pursuits until his desperation overrides any chance of success. Depending on your politics, you will either embrace or abhor Bakopoulos' views. You will also find his novel hard to forget.

[Hanna Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was unsure if I could make it through almost 300 pages of the narrator’s pretentious liberal arts thought process on how he’s allowed to look at his secretary’s legs because that’s what all men would do in his situation. I was like “I know the intention is that you’re supposed to see this guy as a tool, but dang that doesn’t mean I’m going to like getting to know him.” And while I didn’t like him, I liked the story and the storytelling. The narrator really gets himself into some deep shit, and I was very stressed reading what would happen to him. While not a unique character, this was a wholly unique situation and course of action that kept me interested in seeing it through to the end.

Plus I really want to participate in his “Inventory of American Unhappiness” project because I love the cynicism there.

My favorite line: “it’s sad to see that two lonely homosexuals couldn’t have themselves a nice little horny getaway without it becoming national news” (241)

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my readings I have rarely encountered a less likeable character than Zeke Pappas, the "protagonist" of this book. Even his mother doesn't like him very much. He spends his work days switching back and forth between consuming coffee and consuming alcoholic beverages. It is easy to see why his life seems to be falling apart around him, since he's never made a serious attempt at making a life. And he never gets to that point in the book, either. I kept waiting for Zeke to redeem himself, but he never really does. It didn't help that his other main pastime was evaluating women as potential sex partners and marriage prospects in a very superficial and rather condescending way. I can tolerate unlikeable, mysogynist losers in a book if they're at least funny, but Zeke Pappas wasn't that either. A terribly disappointing book.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I . . . can't decide if I think this book is unique and creative and fresh or just plain strange and not that good. The whole time I was reading it, I was analyzing it, wondering if it would be better written in third person, trying to put my finger on what felt "off." The best thing I can think of to compare it to is a cross between Franzen's The Corrections, an awkward Ben Stiller movie, an NPR feature story, and the voice of the narrator who has Asperger's Syndrome in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. Bakopoulos' writing is solid, but there's something not quite right here, and I'm frustrated that I can articulate it better.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjyed this. Zeke is a likeable character who is, I believe sad, but not unhappy. He is a caring uncle and son. Life's tragedies have burdened him. He has accepted tremendous responsibilities with love.
Yes, he's lazy, unfocused and a bit of a drunk. These self admitted qualities, add to his attraction.
American Unhappiness reminds me of Ann Tyler novels. Odd people, who don't fit in, but do.
The other part of this novel that I like is the setting. Yes, it's Madison, Wisconsin and I've never been there. But it's also Starbucks in 2009. I used to work out in a physical therapy site which had a window looking out at the drive up window to Starbucks. There were usually 6-8 cars on line for my hour sessions. People sat in their SUV's(which were running) for at least 15 maybe 30 minutes for coffee. There were coffee shops McDonalds's and gas stations within a few blocks with faster, cheaper coffee, but the line was at Starbucks.
Zeke spends lots of time in Starbucks. It is the soda fountain of yesterday. Stars were discovered in those fountains. That's where people congregated for light meals, simple celebrations, first dates, working lunches, networking. Today it's Starbucks. There is no music, but free Wifi. Not only is this Madison, but it's L A, D.C. London and probably Tokyo. Millions of consumers buy coffee, snack, network, work, try to pick up or be picked and waste a lot of time in this overpriced, but greenish institution. Zeke,the "hero" spends an inordinate amount of time there. Maybe he finds "joy" there, because even though he's lazy, unfocused,a player, and a bit of a drunk, he's a good guy

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I read Dean Bakopoulos's My American Unhappiness for my Michigan Beer & Book Club, and while I found it to be a breezy, light read, I can't recommend it across the board. The book, which is narrated by the main character, Zeke Pappas, has a lot going for it. It has some really funny moments in which Zeke talks or acts in an over-the-top, silly manner that is nevertheless quite sad and charming at times. The main character is easy to listen to, despite the fact that he's completely ridiculous. Or maybe his ridiculousness is why he's so engaging? Ultimately, however, the book is too self-aware and self-satisfied for its own good, and the main character is just a tad bit too clueless to be entirely convincing as a real person. I have a hard time with this kind of unreliable narrator. On the other hand, I like that it's set in the quintessential college town of Madison, Wisconsin, and uses the setting to such great advantage. I'm convinced by the funny and often heartbreaking aspects of life on the edges of academia, and I especially like the way the novel satirizes the humanities. I also like that it is the first book I've read to engage with Facebook in any substantive way. I don't think it's successful (a bit too easy and too proud of its cleverness), but when I realized that the chapter titles are the main character's Facebook status updates, I thought about how little I've seen contemporary authors take on the superficiality (and basic tragedy) of life as expressed in Facebook status updates.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so clearly a case of the wrong book ending up in the wrong hands that I question if I should even write this review.

Zeke Pappas, director of the Great Midwestern Humanities Initiative, is working on a special project, a chronicle of American Unhappiness. He spends his days interviewing subjects on what makes them unhappy and his nights caring for his two young neices (his brother died in Iraq and sister-in-law died driving drunk) and his ill mother. When his mother learns she is terminally ill she stipulates that Zeke gets custody of his neices only if he is married before she dies. Desperate, and yes I do mean DESPERATE, to get married, Zeke alternates between the women he is acquianted with attempting to build a relationship that could lead to marriage with one of them. Meanwhile some mysterious branch of the government begins to investigate, in a very sinister way, his work and how he is spending government money.

Zeke is so sad, deluded, paranoid, and just plain messed up that I couldn't identify with him at all. If I ever met this man I would run away screaming and never look back. I suppose that's the point of a book like this. Zeke is a charicature of the typically unhappy american. Though the end of the book is meant to be hopeful I just found it depressing. The style was so far from my sense of humor that nothing about it was funny or entertaining. I know others have enjoyed My American Unhappiness, unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

[Sheri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. I read his first book (Please don't come back from the moon) and thought it was insightful and entertaining. My American Unhappiness lacked a sense of focus (how many times do we have to read almost the same paragraph attributing individual unhappiness to the Bush Administration? I mean, I was a fan of Clinton and quite relieved when Obama took office, but really are we going to talk about politics through this very personality based novel?), was very contrived (did anyone else feel like we stumbled into an American male version of Bridge Jones's diary?), and lacked any real insight. While David Foster Wallace's epic Infinite Jest had many of it's own problems, at least it addressed unhappiness in a real and interesting philosophical way. Bakopoulos took a potentially interesting matter, defined it as distinctly different from sad and then created a sad (per his own definition) character to ramble pointless through the novel.

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why are you unhappy? That’s the question thirty-something midwestern Zeke Pappas asks his subjects. He’s gathering answers for his magnum opus, a study of American Unhappiness. When the novel opens we’re nearly finished with the Bush administration, seven years after 9/11, and Zeke is hoping to figure out what it is that makes Americans unhappy, which is different from sad, he explains at one point in Dean Bakopolous’ novel My American Unhappiness. The novel is littered with the answers Zeke gets from his website. They range from hilariously mundane to serious anomie.

But while Zeke’s trying to study American unhappiness he ignores his own through a willful lack of self-awareness. Zeke’s got myriad reasons for to be unhappy. Almost too many to be believable. Here let me list a few:
Read More.

[Kathrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the unraveling character development used so skillfully in Gone Girl, you'll like this. If you liked the mid-thirties pulling-up-by-your-bootstraps-with-consequences character arc found in The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, you'll like this. If you've ever felt life to be somewhat mundane, perverse, futile, painful, awkward, precious, or complicated, you'll like this.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought Zeke Pappas was a wonderful character. I like the way the initial impression he gives us changes as we see the way his friends and family react to him. How can you not like a guy who can guess what perfect strangers are going to order at Starbucks as soon as they step up to the counter. Zeke's journey to self-awareness (at least maybe a little) is a funny, thoughtful, touching ride.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zeke Pappas is on a mission - to compile a list of what makes Americans unhappy. Which is perfect, because he works at the Great Midwestern Humanities Initiative. Aside from having a pretty sweet job Zeke plays father figure to his twin orphan nieces and roommate to his elderly mother. When his mother has a change of heart Zeke needs to find a wife before everything he knows is taken from him.

My American Unhappiness sounds interesting, right? What with interviews of the general population and a man interested in compiling a list of their woes? Only it's not. The actual Unhappiness Project takes up a pitifully small portion of the book. Everything else is Zeke Pappas being....Zeke. This is truly a case of an unlikable protagonist ruining what could be a good book. The problem is that Zeke doesn't understand his life. He thinks everything is perfect, that he'll find love one day and that his ability to predict strangers Starbucks orders is endearing. When his life starts to fall apart he thinks he takes it in stride, but in reality he is crying in his office (which he denies) and proposing to near strangers after a first date. Maybe if My American Unhappiness had been marketed as a man unknowingly coping with some form of mental illness Zeke would be easier to stomach, and truly I tried, but his outbursts and routines broke me down.

While I didn't love the majority of Unhappiness there were a few things that stood out as brilliant. The Unhappiness Project is really interesting. I almost wish the entire book was just interviews with people talking about what makes them unhappy. Really, anything from technology to lack of sleep makes the list. The other thing I love was how well the Midwest was represented by Bakopoulos. Having grown up in Michigan (in Livonia, the city Zeke visits at the end!) and going to school in Illinois I really connected with the Madison setting and the general feeling these often overlooked areas can create. Truthfully, I finished this book because I loved how distinct each place, Madison, Ann Arbor, Chicago, came across.

Definitely not my favorite read of the year, but I'd lay a majority of the blame on the blurb being woefully incorrect and Zeke being a irritating pansy.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We see ourselves in a struggle of epic, or at least interesting, magnitude, and so we go about documenting it ourselves, not waiting for some future historian, anthropologist, or novelist to find our tale and tell it to us. YouTube, FaceBook, blogs - all of these things are ways for us to make ourselves protagonists on a very crowded, violent, and unjust stage."(p.252)

I chose this book to take with me on my trip back home to visit my parents and I'm really glad this was my companion there, during, and back, as it read like a good old friend telling me a story; which I totally need when I go back to the town I grew up in, since the energy of the place has always been constricting and claustrophobic, at least to me.

This is the yang to THE HAPPINESS PROJECT. It is fiction and is narrated by Zeke Pappas, who seems to have everything - an interesting career in Humanities, a caring mother, and two lovely twin nieces. However, as the story unfolds so does the unraveling of the narrative, and as a reader you get to see his "American Unhappiness" first hand.

I really liked Zeke's ironic sense of humor, his poignantly true insights on humanity, our culture, and work, while giving smart literary references and an interesting narrative on his unraveling, all at the same time. The only time I was annoyed with him was when he's trying to find love, as he says all the wrong things, all of the time. However, the ending was good as it left me with a little bit of hope that Zeke has learned from his past mistakes and when he goes to Michigan that in starting over he might find the love he's been looking for.

All in all, a really good read that has made me think a lot about my own American Unhappiness. I only hope that my journaled narrative will be as witty and engaging as Dean Bakopouls'. I really need to read more from this author as well.

[Kristel · Rating 2 out of 5]

My American Unhappiness is the a fiction story of Zeke Pappas who is a widowed man working on an oral history of “The Inventory of American Unhappiness.” He is the director of the Great Midwestern Humanities Initiative (GMHI). Zeke’s mother and his nieces are living with him. Zeke is quite happy with this arrangement but his mother wants him to marry and if he doesn’t she is going to have the girls go to Michigan and live with their aunt. Zeke is desparate to find a wife before his mother dies of lung cancer. Zeke isn’t paying attention to what is happening around him, the money is all gone and the federal government is investigating.The story is set in Madison, Wisconsin during the last years of Bush and the election of Obama. The political stance is liberal and the book seems to be written as a vehicle to espouse the author’s political opinions. Zeke tells his story in first person therefore we only know Zeke’s point of view. Zeke is unreliable and we soon learn that he can’t be trusted. It took awhile before this felt like a story but it did read fast. As a story it wasn’t particularly original. Because it was Zeke telling the story, no character was developed beyond Zeke’s view. Because Zeke is falling apart, the story tended to also fall apart. While there was little swearing and f bombs initially, they began to explode all over the place. The writing wasn’t that great though the author had some pretty nice quotes throughout the book. These can be found on the book page here at Shelfari so I am not going to repeat them here. I really can’t give this book much more that 2.5 stars. Because it was a fast read that I didn’t have to torture myself to finish, I gave it the 2.5 rather than the straight 2.

[Roxy · Rating 2 out of 5]

"My American Unhappiness" was not at all what I thought it would be. The book is filled with political opinions that I found unnecessary, and I read books to get away from those opinions on politics and religion. On top of that the political opinions are poorly written and just so negative, without a view of "both sides". The story began very slowly, and was very uninteresting. Then the author turned it around, made you want to know what was happening, who was behind the "issue" and what was the outcome going to be. Well...the outcome was very anti-climactic. Written in a "oh, it's just this person" way, with a quick ending to the real issue...which was actually a fairly big government issue (without spoiling it for those reading this review). The main character gave off a very creepy vibe throughout the whole book, and in one chapter, I seriously believed he was going to rape an employee. Not a comfortable read at that point. I thought that "My American Unhappiness" was a factual book, with each chapter having asked different people in America why they were unhappy. Well, I was disappointed to find out, "My American Unhappiness" was not that at all, in fact it was a non-fiction book about a main character that was desperate and pathetic.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a depressing book -- the beloved wife who may or may not have died, the twin nieces, the long-suffering mother who concocts an ultimatum that results in Zeke's mad dating spree, the list of marriageable "possibilities”, the uncanny coffee drink predictions, the "unhappiness" blogs. The dead wife subplot never ignites, the twin nieces are cardboard cute, mom is alternately noble and inane, the government investigation of the government supported company goes nowhere, and the potpourri of youngish attractive women all seem remarkably similar, especially in their rejection of Zeke. If Zeke would have come near me, I would have run screaming in the opposite direction….

By the conclusion of the book, the reader is expecting him to have learned - something - anything -- how many times can one person repeat the same mistakes? -- but Zeke never manages to pull it off. Whatever promise the premise held has been extinguished, and Zeke is slightly worse for wear. After a while, I just wanted it to end, happily, if possible. It didn't. It was the beginning of the same old roller coaster all over again!

By the end, I was ready to write in to the "unhappiness" blogs and let Zeke know why I was made unhappy by this book!!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof. I found this to be very funny at times - more so for the interviews of unhappy people (why are you unhappy? , less so for the day drinking or Zeke's tactical pursuit of a spouse. I also cringed when Zeke's patterns in Madison overlapped with mine... walking down Monroe and Commonwealth, Starbucks on MLK (why not Barriques?). Zeke likes lavender-infused eco-friendly detergent, too. Zeke reminding me of myself wasn't flattering... but he's not an entirely bad dude? Zeke reminded me of Stevens from The Remains of the Day. He's proper, a little too rosy, and unreliable.

Beyond Zeke, I found the meditations on family, aging, purpose, and unhappiness to be engaging. This felt like a quick read.

Fun part - Joseph on handling some book thugs, possibly named the Cynic Cessation Project coming after Zeke - "There are pretty rough guys. They talk the talk. It doesn't scare a seasoned anarchist like me, but Mack's just a sales rep. ... But we booksellers are more like lone wolves, trolling windowless nooks and crannies, drinking bad coffee from stained giveaway mugs."

I gave this 3 stars and I wouldn't strongly recommend it but I thought about it a bunch.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeke Pappas, 33, and widowed (so to speak), begins a project called "The Inventory of American Unhappiness" in which he interviews Americans to find out what makes them unhappy. Meanwhile, he begins a quest to find a wife so he can gain custody of his orphaned nieces.
I really enjoyed this book, mainly because of Zeke's narration. Zeke spends a majority of his time in despondent, but comical reverie. There are many lines that made me laugh out loud. He becomes increasingly filled with despair, which made me simultaneously want to cheer for him, and shake my hands in frustration, especially during the last 3rd of the book when he was making himself so darn unlikable. Zeke reminded me of Will from the film Good Will Hunting -so smart, clever, quick on his feet, but carries a lot of baggage from the sadness in his life.
I also loved the chapter headings, which reminded me of Wes Anderson films, and added to the witty charm.
I would recommend this book to fans of Jonathan Tropper, Kevin Wilson, James Collins, and other contemporary-realism humor authors.

[Kyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, I liked this a great deal more than you are likely too. Or than I would have thought. The social commentary is incisive if not particularly keen - consumption is bad, the suburbs are bland, about 3/4 through I finally figured out the chapter titles could double as FB status updates. But unlike Adam Ross's Mr. Peanut or Johnathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You or Sam Lipsyte's The Ask for that matter, this book and the main character have a kernel of sweetness that redeems all the crazy male stuff. Unlike many others, I liked the main character and found his Arthur-esque quest to find a bride for an inheritance totally engaging. And that the women in his life were not paper dolls.

[Amygk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an odd book, but I found it strangely delightful. The last page had me looking at the text wondering about the fate of the character and remembering that time he just finished describing (November of 2008 right after the election). Zeke, the main character, at points had me cringing for him, hating him and cheering him on. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to, most people wouldn't like it (I first heard it mentioned on NPR and indeed I can't imagine someone who doesn't listen to NPR liking this book), but I found it to be refreshingly different and honest.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people really like this book and some hate it. I have a theory about it.

This book is somewhat like watching The Office sometime you laugh out loud but other times you feel very uncomfortable for the main character.Just as you feel sorry for Michael Scott, he does something that makes you hate him.

The main character of this book is incredibly self-unaware,somewhat of a drunk, an pseudo-intellectual and a scumbag who does some incredibly bad things.

The writing is enjoyable though the situations are quite funny in an uncomfortable way.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, this is actually a laugh-out loud book about unhappiness. Zeke's funding for his Inventory of American Unhappiness Project is running out. In the meantime, while gauging the unhappiness of everyone around him, he ignores his own well-being. Zeke is a likable narrator that just needs a good waking up to discover the riches that surround him. This is a warmhearted book that will cheer you up, even as it inventories the unhappiness of America.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this novel, a lonely man in his early 30s, socially clueless & professionally incompetent, is the director of the Great Midwestern Humanities Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin, where he's engaged in a major study of American unhappiness. It has the makings (and occasional glimpses) of an effective satire, but the author mostly eschews that for the less interesting personal story of the protagonist. It has its moments, but it's mostly pretty bland.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I don't get what all the enthusiasm was about. I was sucked in by the quirky subject matter and the blurb that said it was "so funny you may miss this novel's slyly profound message." Um, no. Kept reading and reading and waiting for the funny to start, and the message struck me as totally blatant and unprofound. There were some decent bits of writing here and there, but this was one of those books I wish I had not bought.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this novel made me seriously reevaluate any attraction I might have toward introspective, literary-minded men.

one of those books where at first you think "is the narrator's view of other people, particularly women, a reflection of the author's belief system, or a subtle criticism of men who view women that way?" And then 2/3 of the way through the novel you realize the answer doesn't matter. it was well-written and sometimes funny, though.

[Carol]

I loved the fact that Dean Bakopoulos's quirky contemporary novel is set in Madison, WI. He definitely catches the vibe of our fair city, and portrays it lovingly (although not without satirizing some aspects of our oh-so-politically correct community). He also explores that life of a 30-ish young man in search of himself (and love). I found My American Unhappiness a very enjoyable read!

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read in a long time- I had to read it slowly because I didn't want to be done with it!