Not Happy... With Happy.

I'm currently reading a book called Happy by Derren Brown (yes, it is spelt with two E's). I bought it a while back in one of my charity shop book hauls. So far I have found it to be an interesting read, yet I am not happy with it. 

There is something about Happy, that I am not happy about.

It's the actual book itself, not the contents.  It is a paperback that has 558 pages, but it is not easy to keep the pages open. It is one of those that when you hold it, you have to apply constant pressure to keep the pages that you are reading open. If you get too physical with it, the inevitable end result is that you will get a crease in the spine of the book.  

I don't like that with paperbacks. 

The local charity shops are full of second hand paperback books with damaged spines. I don't think anyone buys a book with the intention of damaging it so you can read it comfortably?

Hardback books are more durable, but paperbacks often get abused in this way. That poses the question, why has it been produced like that? Was there no testing beforehand? There are paperbacks where the pages open smoothly and there are no creases on the spine of the book. 

With Happy, I have so far managed to resist the temptation to force it open and damage the spine. I'm on page 103, so 425 more to go (not including the index at the end).  

Will I last the course? Brown seems to think that the stoics had some answers to being happy. 

Perhaps I need to be more Stoic when reading this hefty tome?

Update (2026).

No, I didn't last the course. The further I got into the book, the tighter it became. Or maybe my hands were getting weaker by then? I got to page 180 and gave up. 

I now think that the only way I will get through it is by damaging the spine. As Derren Brown is a magician, maybe he can come with some magic that will help?