{"product_id":"9780802194756","title":"Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller: The “magnificent” memoir by one of the bravest and most original writers of our time—“A tour de force of literature and love” (\u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e’ “50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Jeanette Winterson’s bold and revelatory novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. Her internationally best-selling debut, \u003ci\u003eOranges Are Not the Only Fruit\u003c\/i\u003e, tells the story of a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents, and has become a staple of required reading in contemporary fiction classes.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?\u003c\/i\u003e is a “singular and electric” memoir about a life’s work to find happiness (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e). It is a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother who has two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser, waiting for Armageddon; about growing up in a north England industrial town now changed beyond recognition; about the universe as a cosmic dustbin. It is the story of how a painful past, rose to haunt the author later in life, sending her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her biological mother. It is also a book about the power of literature, showing how fiction and poetry can form a string of guiding lights, or a life raft that supports us when we are sinking.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Witty, acute, fierce, and celebratory, \u003ci\u003eWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?\u003c\/i\u003e is a tough-minded story of the search for belonging—for love, identity, home, and a mother.","brand":"Grove\/Atlantic, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47127929979120,"sku":"9780802194756","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780802194756_p0.jpg?v=1763726376","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780802194756","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}