Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Most Anticipated Books of 2025!

Book Club Discussion Questions for Happy by Celina Baljeet Basra

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Happy by Celina Baljeet Basra

Happy

A Novel

by Celina Baljeet Basra
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (9):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 14, 2023, 272 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Nov 2024, 272 pages
  • Rate this book

About this Book

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

In a book club? Subscribe to our Book Club Newsletter!

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

  1. How does the novel's fragmented style impact the storytelling? What does the formally eclectic and polyphonic structure of the novel suggest about Happy's inner and outer worlds?
  2. What consequences does Wonderland set in motion for Happy's journey? What structural forces does Wonderland represent to Happy and his community? What is the significance of Wonderland being a copycat of Disneyland, and what do the park's divers offerings suggest about globalization?
  3. In what ways is this a workplace novel? How is it the same and different from other workplace novels you've read recently? Do the conventions of the workplace novel in Happy provoke new considerations around the politics of labor?
  4. What are the elements of Happy's immigration experience that feel familiar to you? What are others that feel foreign or faraway?
  5. Media (such as film, TV, and literature) and food feature heavily in the novel as some of Happy's main preoccupations. How do they relate to the book's larger themes about cultural diaspora, immigration, labor and human rights?
  6. Why is it a significant that Happy begins in a cabbage farm and ends up in a radish farm?
  7. What does Zhivago represent to Happy? How does Happy's queerness affect his self-concept and aspirations?
  8. Happy's dreams are big, but sadly he is unable to accomplish those dreams. How do you make sense of Happy's last acts? Does the ending of the novel unsettle any of your previous assumptions about Happy and his optimism?

Please click here for the publisher's reading guide, which includes a playlist, recipes and more.

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Astra House. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Wager
    by David Grann
    From the bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a gripping story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.
  • Book Jacket
    Let's Call Her Barbie
    by Renée Rosen
    She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world. Barbie is born in this bold new novel by USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen.
  • Book Jacket
    Babylonia
    by Costanza Casati
    From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history. When kings fall, queens rise.
Book Club Giveaway!
Win Help Wanted

Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

From the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. comes a funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America.

Enter

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Beast of the North Woods
    by Annelise Ryan

    When a local fisherman is mauled to death, it seems like the only possible cause is a mythical creature.

  • Book Jacket

    Going Home
    by Tom Lamont

    Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss.

  • Book Jacket

    The Secret History of the Rape Kit
    by Pagan Kennedy

    The story of the woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity.

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

T the L

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.