John Lincoln is a book editor miserably ensconced at Pistakee, a dinky Chicago publisher. His overwhelming ambition is to flee the bland, over polite Midwest and land in New York—where, he imagines, he’ll work with *real* writers; brandish success at his skeptical, patrician East Coast parents; and experience again the glories of a city where, with “every block*, every step,*” he will find something interesting and exciting.
What he needs is a hot bestseller, and he finds his vehicle in Amy O’Malley, a recent University of Chicago grad who’s worked on the school’s famous sex survey. With Lincoln’s prodding and guidance, Amy writes a sex-filled novel that draws on her experience. Her book indeed opens doors for Lincoln—but not in the way he imagined. Meanwhile, a professor of happiness studies at a local college blackmails him into publishing his fantastically mundane poetry.
Reminiscent of Richard Russo’s *Straight Man*, *Are You Happy Now?* is a comic novel about the hard work of understanding what it is you want.
**
### From Booklist
From his little round window overlooking a tiny portion of Chicago’s vast urban landscape, John Lincoln dreams of his escape to Manhattan. A discerning book editor for a small publisher of esoteric, Chicago-themed books—the Cubs! the architecture!—John longs for a breakout hit that will make his name and catapult him into New York’s publishing stratosphere. The unpolished manuscript pressed upon him by waifish editorial assistant Amy O’Malley seems an unlikely source, and yet there it is: the tale of an innocent college girl whose stint as a sex-survey taker introduces her to a world of kinky couplings. Think Fifty Shades of Grey meets The Kinsey Report. In the course of editing the novel, John and Amy’s relationship moves from the office to the bedroom, with startling consequences. Having spent more than three decades at the helms of both Chicago and New York magazines, Babcock has the insider world of high-stakes publishing down pat, which provides a firm foundation for this smart yet winsome story about the realization of unlikely dreams. --Carol Haggas
### Review
**Society of Midland Author Awards, finalist in the Adult Fiction category**
"A smooth, winning plot"—***Publishers Weekly***
"[A] smart yet winsome story about the realization of unlikely dreams."—***Booklist***
"A compelling look at the world of words and those who love, write, edit, and sell them."—**Rick Kogan, Printers Row, *Chicago Tribune***
"The headlong, grimly uncomfortable ride John Lincoln endures across Chicago's literary, sexual and baseball divides is a sweet comic blast onto West Waveland Avenue. Gone."—**James McManus, author of *Going to the Sun and Positively Fifth Street***
"A witty, rueful novel about one man's midlife crisis amid the upheavals in the publishing world."—**Jeannette Walls, author of *The Glass Castle* and *Half Broke Horses***
Description:
John Lincoln is a book editor miserably ensconced at Pistakee, a dinky Chicago publisher. His overwhelming ambition is to flee the bland, over polite Midwest and land in New York—where, he imagines, he’ll work with *real* writers; brandish success at his skeptical, patrician East Coast parents; and experience again the glories of a city where, with “every block*, every step,*” he will find something interesting and exciting. What he needs is a hot bestseller, and he finds his vehicle in Amy O’Malley, a recent University of Chicago grad who’s worked on the school’s famous sex survey. With Lincoln’s prodding and guidance, Amy writes a sex-filled novel that draws on her experience. Her book indeed opens doors for Lincoln—but not in the way he imagined. Meanwhile, a professor of happiness studies at a local college blackmails him into publishing his fantastically mundane poetry. Reminiscent of Richard Russo’s *Straight Man*, *Are You Happy Now?* is a comic novel about the hard work of understanding what it is you want. ** ### From Booklist From his little round window overlooking a tiny portion of Chicago’s vast urban landscape, John Lincoln dreams of his escape to Manhattan. A discerning book editor for a small publisher of esoteric, Chicago-themed books—the Cubs! the architecture!—John longs for a breakout hit that will make his name and catapult him into New York’s publishing stratosphere. The unpolished manuscript pressed upon him by waifish editorial assistant Amy O’Malley seems an unlikely source, and yet there it is: the tale of an innocent college girl whose stint as a sex-survey taker introduces her to a world of kinky couplings. Think Fifty Shades of Grey meets The Kinsey Report. In the course of editing the novel, John and Amy’s relationship moves from the office to the bedroom, with startling consequences. Having spent more than three decades at the helms of both Chicago and New York magazines, Babcock has the insider world of high-stakes publishing down pat, which provides a firm foundation for this smart yet winsome story about the realization of unlikely dreams. --Carol Haggas ### Review **Society of Midland Author Awards, finalist in the Adult Fiction category** "A smooth, winning plot"—***Publishers Weekly*** "[A] smart yet winsome story about the realization of unlikely dreams."—***Booklist*** "A compelling look at the world of words and those who love, write, edit, and sell them."—**Rick Kogan, Printers Row, *Chicago Tribune*** "The headlong, grimly uncomfortable ride John Lincoln endures across Chicago's literary, sexual and baseball divides is a sweet comic blast onto West Waveland Avenue. Gone."—**James McManus, author of *Going to the Sun and Positively Fifth Street*** "A witty, rueful novel about one man's midlife crisis amid the upheavals in the publishing world."—**Jeannette Walls, author of *The Glass Castle* and *Half Broke Horses***