Spectacular Happiness

A daring, controversial novel that The New York Times hailed as "good fun" and full of "rewarding surprises," Spectacular Happiness entertains while raising challenging questions about what constitutes the good life. Booklist calls it a "stunning first novel." Chip Samuels is an English teacher, part-time handyman, and devoted husband and father. He is also a one-man protest movement. Egged on by an ex-girlfriend, Chip has been blowing up trophy homes along the beaches of Cape Cod. The fastidiously crafted explosions capture the public's imagination -- and rather than being reviled as a terrorist, he finds himself the idealized center of a media circus. Darkly intelligent, provocative, and compelling, Spectacular Happiness has been praised both as riveting storytelling and as masterful social criticism by one of the most respected observers of contemporary American culture.