My American Unhappiness by Dean Bakopoulos

It is difficult to pin this novel down. Is it comedy, tragedy, political satire? Yes. Bakopoulos ( Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon) has hit another homerun. Zeke Pappas may not be the most lovable character but he’s an entertaining literary companion. The self-absorbed U of M grad and scholar runs the Madison, Wisconsin based, financially vulnerable Great Midwestern Humanities Institute. Zeke is obsessed with the Institute’s one and only project, An Inventory of American Unhappiness. He has devoted his professional life to the study and spends his time interviewing Americans, mostly online, beginning with the same question, “Why are you so unhappy?” The answers range from the comical to the heartbreaking as does his complete denial of the likely termination of funding for the Institute and the project.

His personal life is even messier yet he carries on day to day as if all is well with the world. He and his Mom are raising his 7 year- old orphaned twin nieces and here is where we are allowed to fall in love with Zeke. He is devoted to these girls and descriptions of interactions like bedtime rituals or trips to Noodles & Company for mac & cheese are endearing. Here’s the rub. Zeke’s Mom is the legal guardian and she is dying. Her will requires Zeke to be married in order to gain custody of the girls. Otherwise the girls will go to their aunt and her husband (a perfectly wonderful couple) in Livonia, Michigan. Again, the lines of comedy and tragedy blur as Zeke tries to find a wife in a hurry or lose what he values most.

The Midwest setting and the many local references stemming from Zeke’s U of M days – Meijer gets a shout out – enhance the experience. More please, Mr. Bakopoulos.

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Suggested by Ann C.