The internationally acclaimed playwright and novelist Yasmina Reza stages a band of eighteen characters at war with their lives, with only humor to sustain them
Happy are the loved ones and the lovers and those who can do without love. Happy are the happy. --Jorge Luis Borges
Schnitzler's La Ronde gives these twenty short chapters their shape while Borges's poem gives them their content. As we move from story to story, thrilled to reconnect with an old acquaintance from an earlier scene, we can't help but admit that we are very much at home in this human comedy that understands all too well the passing thoughts, desires, actions, fears, and mistakes that we have and make day after day, but that we would be incapable of rendering with such acuity and compassion.
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Library Journal Review
Starred Review. This enjoyable work from France-based novelist and playwright Reza (The God of Carnage) takes its title from Jorge Luis Borges: "Happy are those who are beloved and those who love and those who can do without love. Happy are the happy." Comprising 22 short chapters, it concerns happiness in one's personal life, with spouse, children, parents, and friends. The first chapter sets a humorous tone as Odile and Robert go shopping for cheese in a crowded supermarket, arguing over Morbier and the junk food Odile has placed in the cart for their children. A few of the characters in other chapters are definitely quirky: a man playing cards with his wife gets so agitated that he eats the king of clubs, for instance, while another sincerely believes he is Celine Dion. With sharp insight, Reza quickly penetrates the thoughts and actions of the characters to reveal just how happy (or not) they really are. VERDICT Winner of the Le Monde Prix Litteraire francaise 2013, this charming novel will make all Francophiles want to move to France immediately. What a delightful, witty slice of life! [See Prepub Alert, 8/11/14.] Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.