How does Happy Guide compare to Ms. Quindlen’s book?
I can not profess to know Ms. Quindlen’s motivations for writing her book. However, it reads like a really honest attempt to encourage folks to not waste their time on earth. She is charmingly deferential and self-deprecating for a woman who makes a living by being known for her strong opinions, and having the ability to back them up. HappyGuide, I think, is the result of growing up in a time when some folks still farmed to eat in Western North Carolina. I spent a ton of time at the Stockyard and the Farmer’s Market which gave me a very close look at the “agrarian” way of life which basically only consisted of work and family. Play was really only the fun work like chasing Uncle Bob’s cows when they got out. So on the surface we have the obvious contrast on the perspectives of happiness: male/female, rural/city, south/north, farmer/intellect? Where we overlap is on the concept of time: it’s short.
