How Happy to Be captures the life of a disillusioned entertainment journalist as she heads into a downward spiral of ritual substance abuse and empty punditry. Along this path of self-destruction, her past on a West Coast commune, both comic and poignant, keeps intruding. It isn’t until her indiscretions catch up with her that she realizes she must face that past if she is to have any chance of finding where her happiness lies.

Onstad’s ability to blend satire with a moving story of coming to terms with life’s deepest wounds makes
How Happy to Be a wholly satisfying and striking novel.