Happy Bad: A Novel

By: Delaney Nolan

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Synopsis: "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 EarthHernan 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.

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