Happy Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Barikamà: An Italian Workers' Co-operative and our BookBrowse Review of Happy.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How does the novel's fragmented style impact the storytelling? What does the formally eclectic and polyphonic structure of the novel suggest about Happy's inner and outer worlds?
2. What consequences does Wonderland set in motion for Happy's journey? What structural forces does Wonderland represent to Happy and his community? What is the significance of Wonderland being a copycat of Disneyland, and what do the park's divers offerings suggest about globalization?
3. In what ways is this a workplace novel? How is it the same and different from other workplace novels you've read recently? Do the conventions of the workplace novel in Happy provoke new considerations around the politics of labor?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Astra House. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.