{"product_id":"happiness-bastard-9780578732039","title":"Happiness Bastard","description":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to author Kirby Doyle (1932-2003), \u003cem\u003eHappiness Bastard\u003c\/em\u003e, his only published novel, was \"written on a sojourn that my lover post-wife and I took to New York in 1959-1960.\" Similar to Jack Kerouac's \u003cem\u003eOn the Road\u003c\/em\u003e, the novel was composed on a single scroll formed from taped-together sheets of paper. The novel was submitted to, and rejected by, several publishers before it was finally released in 1968 by Essex House in North Hollywood, California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoet Michael McClure described the original manuscript of \u003cem\u003eHappiness Bastard\u003c\/em\u003e as \"the most grotesque and hilarious novel I'd ever seen.\" Charles Bukowski called the novel \"good stuff.\" In the only known review of the novel (\u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Free Press\u003c\/em\u003e, Sept. 6, 1968), Lawrence Lipton, author of The \u003cem\u003eHoly Barbarians\u003c\/em\u003e, the classic 1959 study of the Beats, wrote: \"The most important innovative breakthrough in wordcraft since \u003cem\u003eHowl\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNaked Lunch\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Free-Lance Pallbearers\u003c\/em\u003e by Ishmael Reed, \u003cem\u003eInformed Sources\u003c\/em\u003e by Willard Bain and Mailer's \u003cem\u003eWhy Are We In Vietnam?\u003c\/em\u003e . . . Read \u003cem\u003eHappiness Bastard\u003c\/em\u003e by Kirby Doyle. Then, if you still don't know where it's at, the hell with you.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Tough Poets Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50718706368786,"sku":"9780578732039","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_196e36ad-46e0-430b-9c34-b23c3453c7c8.jpg?v=1734647173","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/happiness-bastard-9780578732039","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}