Publisher, Blackstone Audiobooks (March 2008)

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2009 Audie Award-Winner in the 'Humor' Category

“Narrator Bronson Pinchot…offers a fresh perspective and a perfectly played performance that captures the essence of Kidd's work. Pinchot assumes the personality of Happy, the story's protagonist, with such vigor that he seems the only possible choice to narrate the novel....A witty story told by an even wittier narrator is a perfect combination.” —AudioFile

“This ingenious work of literary fiction covers a lot of turf on its 6 cds or 1 MP3 CD. It's a coming-of-age story, a satirical send-up of the advertising industry in the early 1960s, a tutorial on the basics of graphic arts, and a serious inspection of the dichotomy between form and content on both a literal and a metaphorical level….Pinchot’s fully voiced performance is electrifying. He moves easily between the comic and the somber elements in the novel….” —KLIATT

“Whimsical…keen-edged and original.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[A] beautifully composed paean to pre-computer graphic design....Kidd's ebullience and generosity in unpacking the art and practice of graphic design carry the novel." —Publishers Weekly

A young graphic designer fresh out of college in the summer of 1961, Happy has just landed his first job at a wacky advertising firm filled with eccentric creative artists. Everything is going great until Happy is assigned to design a newspaper ad recruiting participants for an experiment in the Yale Psychology Department. Happy can't resist responding to the ad himself. Little does he know that the experience will devastate him, forcing a reexamination of his past, his soul, and the nature of human cruelty—chiefly his own.

Written in sharp, witty prose and peppered with absorbing ruminations on graphic design, this stand-alone sequel to Chip Kidd’s previous novel, The Cheese Monkeys, again shows that Kidd's writing is every bit as original, stunning, and memorable as his celebrated book jackets.

About the Author: CHIP KIDD is a writer and graphic designer in New York City whose book-jacket designs have helped spawn a revolution in the art of American book packaging. He has written about popular culture for McSweeney’s, Vogue, New York Times, New York Observer, Entertainment Weekly, Details, 2WICE, and others.