jiawenie 's review for:

Happy All the Time: With an Introduction by Katherine Heiny by Laurie Colwin

DID NOT FINISH: 16%

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i like the cover of this book, but that’s about all there is to it. there are light reads, and then there’s this. the characters are baffling - the girl doesn’t like the guy, but goes out with him and sleeps with him, and is even willing to marry him in spite of her distaste for him simply because he sets a ring out for her? all of this within the first 20 or so pages of the book, by the way. moreover, the book itself is extremely dated, even for its time - not only in terms of gender dynamics (there’s also this very troubling bit where guido, in the throes of desire, looks across at his then-girlfriend or whatever they are at the time as she works on a crossword puzzle, and he ‘began to realize why most violent crimes take place in the home: he wanted to strangle her. He wanted to get his hands on her and make her his.’) it’s difficult to believe that this was written by a woman, but there you have it. and have i mentioned the strange fetishization of japanese hair/women, as projected onto the character of guido’s love interest (who, strangely enough, is ostensibly white)? just a very bad book that i don’t have the time or patience for. the introduction by katherine heiny was likewise poorly written and my first red flag.