cover image The Big Happy

The Big Happy

Scott Mebus, . . Miramax, $23.95 (375pp) ISBN 978-1-4013-5256-1

A young, struggling New York writer, David Holden is elated when an agent deems his unpublished novel a surefire hit in the emerging genre of "dump lit" (fiction for the "heartless shitheads" who casually dump women). David himself, the returning lead character from Mebus's Booty Nomad is likable enough; hardly the hardcore player, he's a loyal friend, and his insecurities and naïveté tend to manifest as sensitivity and indecisiveness rather than whininess. His budding romance with emotional wreck Janey Finegold rings true, as do his asides on the writing process ("I have to force myself"). But when David and his small cadre of friends set out to ruin the wedding of his childhood chum Annie (he's obsessed with her), they resort to schemes even Lucy and Ethel would find crass and outlandish—but that's part of the point. Only when Janey brings it to David's attention does he, intentionally far behind readers, finally consider that his obsession may be what's keeping Annie from exchanging vows with fiancé "Rat Boy." Knowing that doesn't spoil the Friends -like sweetness. (June)