The excellent My American Unhappiness is about a regular guy, Zeke Pappas, who runs a not-for-profit that’s funded by a closeted homosexual Republican who is under suspicion by a shadowy arm of Homeland Security. Zeke’s mother is dying and he can only keep the nieces he’s helping to raise-since the untimely deaths of his brother and sister-in-law-if he gets engaged before she dies. He has a list of four prospective wives and part of the story is how he tries it on with each of them (I was wary how that would go, but Bakopoulos handled it deftly). Zeke is also working on a project called the Inventory of American Unhappiness, which is a modern day chronicle of why Yanks are discontented with their lives. It sounds like a lot to be getting on with, but Bakopoulos (who reminds me a Charles Baxter) pulls the strings like a pro. The end is realistic and satisfying, which is something rare in contemporary fiction. Highly recommended-I read it in one sitting.