Happiness: Happy or Not?

Will Ferguson's novel Happiness is not a representation of the fulfillment of genuine happiness. The way the novel takes a stab at the self-help industry is humorous (in my opinion) because it essentially hints at the idea that the self-help industry is not needed/necessary. If this is true though, then why do people spend such long periods of time obsessing over losing those measley 5 extra lbs by trying absoulutely absurd diets? It's ridiculous. Tupac Soiree's book "What I Learned on the Mountain" actually takes the color and originality out of the characters in the novel--leaving them "blah" and lifeless. May for instance, loses her color--(her red lips are no longer the same!) So the question I want to ask remains: do self-help novels really suck the "life" out of people? I think they can. An old roommate of mine became obsessed with a series of novels entitled "Skinny Bitch." (sick title, already!) One day she was cooking dinner out of a new cookbook from the series called "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch." (really?) I glanced at the title and in small font it read: "Kick Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)" Yikes. The book outrules all meat and dairy and supports a 100% vegan lifestyle. Call me traditional, but people have been consuming meat since the beginning of time. People were made to eat meat--not merely beans and vegetables. The bottom line is that this old friend of mine became colorless and dull. I could never go out to eat with her, cook dinner with her, or go to get ice cream. (Which I love too much). So, this so-called "self-help" book might have made her lose 15 pounds (which looks scary skinny) but it has also made her lose friends and the old lifestyle that she used to enjoy. I think that we can all get a little something out of Ferguson's novel. If nothing, at least consider that he is trying to say that self-help books are actually just self-destroying.