Happysad - by Brendan Donovan (Hardcover)

About the Book

A funny, heartbreaking memoir about love lost, addiction, and the long road back to yourself. HAPPYSAD is the story of one man's attempt to outrun regret-and what happens when he finally stops running.

Book Synopsis

"The Platonic ideal of an unflinching memoir...profoundly honest."

-Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Five Star Weekend

At twenty-seven, Brendan Donovan, a special educator from Boston with a sharp wit and a deep fear of getting hurt, falls hard for a Jersey girl who loves him in a way he never thought possible. Within a year, they're engaged.

But just as Brendan's life is peaking, he spirals into depression and addiction.

In an attempt to spare the love of his life from who he fears he's becoming, he tells her a lie that will haunt him forever: I don't love you.

To numb the pain of the breakup, Brendan tries Zoloft, Klonopin, cheeseburgers, poker, therapy, dating other chicks, marrying another woman, competing on The Biggest Loser, and opioids (lots and lots of opioids).

None of it works.

This book is about what happens when a man chooses to stop pretending, be vulnerable, and be honest with himself. Not only about the woman he lost, but about the person he became after losing her. You can't help but root for him, even when he makes it really, really hard to.

Hilarious, heartbreaking, and uncomfortably honest, HAPPYSAD is a story about love, regret, and the cost of lying to yourself for too long.

Review Quotes

"HAPPYSAD is the Platonic ideal of an unflinching memoir. In this profoundly honest book, Brendan Donovan takes us on a crazy ride through all-consuming love, a battle with addiction and a starring role in reality TV. The writing is gorgeously specific, the story both captivating and heart wrenching. Here it is, in print: a definition of what it means to be human."

-Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Five Star Weekend

"In HAPPYSAD, Brendan Donovan writes with a kind of vulnerability that can't be faked. It's an honest look at heartbreak, addiction to food, love, and opiates, and the space between humor and tragedy where most of us actually live. The pull is realizing you recognize parts of yourself in the places he's most ashamed."

-George "Slaine" Carroll, actor, recording artist, and co-founder of Charles River Recovery and Grand Rising Behavioral Health

"There are few experiences as universal-or as quietly haunting-as wondering about the one who got away. Honest, vulnerable, funny, and full of heart, HAPPYSAD is a moving reflection on love, loss, and the stories we carry long after relationships end. This is a memoir that will stay with you.

-Andie Mitchell, New York Times bestselling author of It Was Me All Along