Happy Baby

Paperback

Main Details

Title Happy Baby
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Stephen Elliott
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback
Pages:208
Dimensions(mm): Height 234,Width 153
Category/GenreModern and contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9781447219002
ClassificationsDewey:813.6
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Pan Macmillan
Imprint Picador
Publication Date 5 January 2012
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

'Happy Baby is surely the most intelligent and beautiful book ever written about juvenile detention centers, sadomasochism and drugs . . . Heartbreaking' New York Times Book Review HAPPY BABY is the story of Theo, once the eponymous happy baby, but later an orphan in foster care and now a grown man living in California. Haunted by memories of neglect, abandonment and abuse, Theo returns to Chicago where he lived as a troubled adolescent, to track down an old girlfriend. Told in reverse order, this is an edgy and powerful novel, chilling in its portrayal of a life slowly yet systematically disintegrating. 'Telling his story backward . . . is a graceful strategy that gives Happy Baby its unique veracity and humane edge. It also allows the narrative to transcend the shocking details of Theo's life, which Elliott reveals in quick verbal jabs that pepper his otherwise tightly wound prose' Village Voice

Author Biography

Biographies Born in the UK, Stephen Elliott now lives in San Francisco and lectures at Stanford. He was a Ward of the State of Illinois between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. This is his fourth novel.

Reviews

'Happy Baby is surely the most intelligent and beautiful book ever written about juvenile detention centers, sadomasochism and drugs ... Heartbreaking' New York Times Book Review