Starting from Happy: A Novel

While waiting in line for apple pie at a party, Imogene Gilfeather, a lingerie designer who does not understand the reason for romance, meets Wally Yez, a scientist whose business card says &quot;An Answer for Everything.&quot; Imogene is told that Wally is the perfect guy. (&quot;Perfect,&quot; she replies, &quot;is not my type.&quot;) He is told that her company, Featherware, manufactures intimates (<i>that </i>gets his attention) . Unfazed by Imogene's indifference (who needs love when you have a career, friends, and an undemanding affair with a married man?) , Wally resolves to win her over. E-mails turn into late-night phone calls; one date turns into two and then into more. Thus begins the most absurd and amusingly unbalanced relationship to grace the pages of a novel. <br><br>Wally is certain he and Imogene are meant for each other (They both use mechanical pencils! Neither has had mumps! They are so alike!) , but convincing his beloved is another matter. (&quot;Do you know why it is I don't have pierced ears?&quot; she asks. &quot;Because it's too permanent.&quot;) In defiance of the odds, or the gods, or perhaps just Imogene's qualms, Wally and Imogene become a pair. They celebrate their anniversaries - the first time they touched each other on purpose, took public transportation together, saw the other with wet hair. But can they possibly end as happily as they've begun? (&quot;Does he really have a cowlick? If yes, no bed will ever be big enough.&quot;) <br><br>Made up of hundreds of chaplettes, clever illustrations, and darkly funny commentary on getting together and staying the course, <i>Starting from Happy </i>is a cunning and sophisticated send-up of coupledom that showcases one of the finest comic writers of our time.