One More Theory About Happiness

Paul Guest is a prize-winning poet who lives in Atlanta. He grew up as a gifted, smart, but “normal” kid—until his 6th grade graduation party. That day, a ride on a bicycle with failing brakes left him with a broken neck, a bruised spinal cord, and paralysis from his neck down.

In One More Theory About Happiness, Paul Guest tells his story, from the day of his accident to the present. I started reading this book two days ago, and couldn’t put it down. I was even reading it here at the store yesterday, and I never read while I’m at work. This is not a feel good book, but it’s certainly not a feel bad book either. In spare and beautiful prose Paul Guest just tells his tale straight on, leaving us with a deeper understanding of what it means to be alive.

Paul Guest will read from his book here at The Regulator Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Come to hear a remarkable story, told by a remarkable story-teller.


Bret Lott on “One More Theory About Happiness”

“I read this book in one sitting, staying up well past midnight to see how Paul Guest learned—and continues to learn—to navigate the life he has been given to live. Ostensibly a memoir of one man’s growing up inside the inescapable solitude wrought by a devastating accident, this exquisitely crafted story turns out to be a tale of love, of life, and of language’s ability to eclipse the crushing presence of the physical world. Heartbreakingly funny, pitilessly honest, One More Theory About Happiness is above all a quiet and bold and loving work of art that renders beautifully what it means to live. You must read this book!”