View source for The Illicit Happiness of Other People

{{short description|2012 novel by Manu Joseph}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = The Illicit Happiness of Other People
| image         = File:The Illicit Happiness of Other People.jpg
| caption       = First edition
| author        = [[Manu Joseph]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| country       = India
| genre         = Fiction<br>Drama
| publisher     = [[HarperCollins]]
| release_date  = 2012
| media_type = Print ([[paperback]], [[Hardcover|hardback]])
| pages         = 352
| isbn          = 9781443416375
}}
'''''The Illicit Happiness of Other People'''''  is a 2012 drama novel by [[Manu Joseph]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/bookshelf/illicit-happiness-other-people|title=The Illicit Happiness of Other People|work=Caravan|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://openthemagazine.com/lounge/books/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people/|title=The Illicit Happiness of Other People|last=Joseph|first=Manu|work=Open|date=24 August 2012|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref>
==Plot==
Set in the [[Madras]] of the 1990s. Ousep Chacko is a journalist and a wannabe novelist who routinely wakes the neighbors after drinking sprees and then threatens to hang himself from his lungi. His wife, Mariamma, talks to walls; Thoma, their son, has fallen for an older girl. The family, though disintegrating, is united in its grief, for three years ago Thoma's 17-year-old brother, Unni, fell from the balcony. A desperate Ousep sets out to solve the mystery of his son's supposed suicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/book-excerpt-illicit-happiness-other-people-manu-joseph|title=Book Excerpt: 'The Illicit Happiness of Other People' by Manu Joseph|website=Asia Society|date=7 December 2012|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref>
==Reception==
Malcolm Forbes of ''[[Star Tribune]]'' wrote: "What could have been another standard tale of a dysfunctional family coming apart at the seams turns out to be something far more complex and clever."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/pathos-and-dark-humor-in-modern-day-india-the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people-by-manu-joseph/186379671/|title=Pathos and dark humor in modern-day India: 'The Illicit Happiness of Other People' by Manu Joseph|work=Star Tribune|last=Forbes|first=Malcolm|date=12 January 2013|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref> Martin Patriquin of [[Maclean's]] reviewed, "Visceral and at times hilarious, ''Illicit'' is an indictment of a society that has surrendered to the baser instincts of its men."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people/|title=Review: The Illicit Happiness of Other People|website=Maclean's|last=Patriquin|first=Martin|date=8 February 2013|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref> Sam Sacks of [[The Wall Street Journal]] said that the novel "injects dark, rueful laughter into an immensely touching story of loss."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324374004578217702498416858|title=Giving Hope to the American Short Story|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=4 January 2013|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref>
Arminta Wallace of ''[[The Irish Times]]'' called it a "blend of philosophical inquiry and tart social commentary" which is "smartly written and consistently entertaining".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people-by-manu-joseph-1.1443488|title=The Illicit Happiness of Other People, by Manu Joseph|last=Wallace|first=Arminta|work=The Irish Times|date=17 October 2013|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref> Deepanjana Pal of ''[[Daily News and Analysis]]'' wrote that the novel is "fun, despite all the unhappiness that riddles the novel, and Joseph avoids the curse of the second novel with panache."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people-1744100|title=Book review: The Illicit Happiness Of Other People|last=Pal|first=Deepanjana|work=Daily News and Analysis|date=23 September 2012|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref> Christy Edwall of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' wrote: "Joseph twists what I feared would be a book for people wanting a second White Tiger (that is, local son makes good in a shady world) into a cocktail of character, culture and religion."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9526678/The-llicit-Happiness-of-OtherPeople-by-Manu-Joseph-review.html|title=The llicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph: review|last=Edwall|first=Christy|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=11 September 2012|accessdate=12 August 2019}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443416375/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people/ The Illicit Happiness of Other People] at [[HarperCollins]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illicit Happiness of Other People, The}}
[[Category:2012 Indian novels]]
[[Category:Indian English-language novels]]
[[Category:Novels about death]]
[[Category:Novels set in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1990s]]
[[Category:HarperCollins books]]