1. How Happy to Be begins in the melancholy childhood
aftermath of Maxime's mother's death but quickly switches to
Maxime's present-day world of hangovers and men she calls "Ad
Sales" and "Knee-Socks Steve," revealing how the character masks
her unease and fear of intimacy as an adult. How does the tone
differ between the two eras throughout the story, and how did the
author transition between these two Maximes?
2. On the surface, Maxime is a caustic, drug- and
drink-dependent entertainment reporter, while the man from the past
who reappears, Theo McArdle, is an outdoorsy, amiable physicist
researching "what makes up the universe." (p.41) Their past
attraction seems to rekindle itself. Maxime is impressed by Theo's
work and by his teaching stint in Africa, but what impresses Theo
about Maxime? Is his attraction to her based solely on the young
woman he once knew at university? How can we read past Maxime's
version of herself to see what Theo sees?
3. What are the layers of meaning in the title How Happy to
Be, and what does Maxime reveal to us when she says that she
and her ex-boyfriend John "could never decide how happy to be"?
(p.190) How do you interpret Maxime's reaction to the L.A.
screenwriter's philosophy of unhappiness - that "all of us are
shying away from intimacy … using clever cynical devices"?
(p.233)
4. How does Katrina Onstad manage to create an aura of
vulnerability around the celebrities Maxime interviews, despite her
character's seeming contempt or even pity for the rich and famous?
How do you interpret Maxime's growing disillusion with the movies
she reviews and the celebrities who star in them? In what ways does
Maxime approach her own life as if it were a movie?
5. The novel is set in both Toronto and a fictional island off
Vancouver's coast, but does the story seem Canadian to you, for
reasons other than geography? How does place play a role in the
story, and what do you make of the author's depiction of Toronto,
and the city's impact on Maxime? Why does Maxime say, towards the
end of the book, that she misses the city?
6. Katrina Onstad was herself a film critic at a newspaper and
in this novel has both satirized her experiences during a
particular era of journalistic trends and extrapolated from
archetypes to create new fictional characters and situations.
Writer and artist Douglas Coupland describes the novel as "the
magic place between fact and fiction." What is the responsibility
of a writer in finding that place?
7. Maxime remembers that when her mother was dying, her father
began "rebuilding her with his stories," and that this made him
seem "like a liar" (p.142) in her child's perspective. However,
throughout the novel, Maxime brings our attention to several
embellishments of her own. How does the author shape this seeming
contradiction? Why do you think Maxime continues to tell untruths
about her past, even to Franny as the two of them talk about their
dead parents? How is this an extension of how her father talked
about her mother or how adults piece together the parent they knew
only as a child? What does this reveal about how we all construct
memory?
8. One of the most heartbreaking passages in the novel involves
the Guatemalan woman Mercy and her daughter Maria, who are
strangers to Maxime. How is this story - so brief and yet so full -
integral to the novel, and why do you think Maxime questions its
veracity when Mercy leaves the streetcar? Can you find other
passages in which Maxime cuts short a poignant moment? What do you
think the author is showing us about Maxime's emotional state? How
does trust feature in Maxime's life?
9. Maxime tells us, "My mother … moved waterbug fast, but my
father dove down deep into himself." (p.271) How is Maxime like
each of her parents, and is she aware of the similarities?
10. Maxime is impressed by Franny's capacity for forgiveness and
realizes Theo and Elaine share this same elusive quality. Are there
other characters you could group by strength or weakness?
11. What is it that gives Maxime a special connection to Franny,
long before she meets her? What is the significance of Maxime's
father ending up with Dolores, Franny's mother?
12. During her unhappy adolescence, Maxime steals away from
school to a movie theatre, and is eventually found by her frantic
father. Later in the book, the author pens a near-mirror scene, but
how does Maxime's "escape" and the rescue by her father differ from
the earlier scene? Beyond its physical risks, how is this last
journey both dangerous and necessary for Maxime?
13. How is the notion of home explored throughout the story?
Think of Maxime's childhood homes, her apartment in Toronto,
Sunera's mother's house, etc. Remember, too, that Maxime's father
builds various dwelling-like structures throughout the book. How
does the playhouse for Franny take on special significance, twice,
as a container for a family?
14. What do you think finally allows Maxime to come to terms
with her past? Discuss the scene in which Max and her father take
her mother's ashes to the water. (p.276-279) What surprises her
about her father's behaviour? Similarly, what surprises her about
her own behaviour when Theo arrives at Elaine's? Who do you think
Maxime is addressing on the last page of the novel?