Happy Bad
A Novel
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- € 13,99
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- € 13,99
Beschrijving uitgever
"Nolan is a skillful satirist, and one whose aim is extensive, wickedly funny and true."—New Orleans Times-Picayune
"A self-assured debut that is also a warning."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Delaney Nolan has written a brutal, joyful, surprising, and gorgeous novel of human contradictions. It’s a stunner."—Julia Phillips, author of Bear and Disappearing Earth
Hernan Diaz meets Ottessa Moshfegh in this madcap road trip chronicle; a moving display of human connection in the face of violence and climate destruction from a remarkable new voice in fiction.
Beatrice works at Twin Bridge, a chronically underfunded residential treatment center in near-future East Texas, teeming with enraged teenage girls on either too many or not enough drugs. On a normal day, it’s difficult for Beatrice and the other staff—Arda, Carmen, and Linda—to keep their cool in dust-blown Askewn. But when a heat wave triggers a massive, sustained blackout, Beatrice and the other staff and residents must evacuate. Facing police brutality, sweltering heat, panicked evacuees, the girls’ mounting withdrawal, and the consequences of her own lies, they search for a route out of the blackout zone. A catastrophe novel by turns tender and hilarious, fueled by a low-simmering political rage, Happy Bad is a rocket arrived on Earth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A hardened care worker takes her teen charges on the road to escape a dangerous near-future Texas heat wave in the mordant debut from Nolan. Beatrice Campbell is the supervisor of Twin Bridge, a mental health residence for girls run by a company called Tender Kare, outsourced by the state and funded by the girls' forced participation in drug trials. The latest trial drug, BeZen, shows impressive results in controlling the girls' disruptive behavior, though it makes them "forget glacial chunks of their past." Beatrice isn't too bothered by this side effect ("I was good at my job because I lacked imagination. Only occasionally, in raw accidental bursts, did I think about the unhappiness of the girls," she narrates), and Tender Kare is so encouraged that they offer to move the staff and residents to a new and nicer facility in Atlanta. Before Beatrice can secure their travel money, though, Twin Bridge loses power during a dangerous heat wave. Convinced she needs to get the girls to Atlanta for their survival, Beatrice sets off with them in a stolen passenger van and a dwindling supply of BeZen. Their journey, however, hits a series of snags, first with a delayed crossing into Louisiana, where they wind up stuck after the state closes its borders. Nolan keenly portrays Beatrice's hope and despair as she transforms from bureaucrat to would-be savior. This glimpse into a terrifyingly plausible future smuggles tenderness amid the horrors. Agents: Ellen Levine and Audrey Crooks, Trident Media Group.
