Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

by: Andre Jordan

Published by: Harper Perennial

Reviewed By Michele E. Davis

What sums up Jordan’s book best, is his fellow UK persona, Morrissey, the singer from the Smiths who sung “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” for distribution in 1984. Some of the lyrics are poignant, depressing and so very much British angst:

“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour

But heaven knows I’m miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job

And heaven knows I’m miserable now

In my life

Why do I give valuable time

To people who don’t care if I live or die?

Two lovers entwined pass me by

And heaven knows I’m miserable now”

Jordan fills his book with prose snippets and humorous pictures, almost exactly in the vein of Morrissey. Simultaneously the reader laughs, feels tragically sad for the poor little man that penned this novel, and then feels sorry for themselves, if that’s the state they are in while reading the book.

If you have a dark, dreary, Sylvia Plath, “I want to shove my head in the oven and turn on the gas,” type of outlook, this book is right up your alley. If you take things all too seriously and don’t find humor in lack of a sex life, feeling lost, hating people, parties, mobile phones and past loves, then this book is not for you.

Sadness at the tragic-comic existence of ours is what Jordan is trying to display in his wholly black and white book. A fun, silly, laughable read, if you’ve been bummed out this is a great mood elevator. A must have for people who find themselves laughing when others are not.

A book for people who don’t take things too seriously, can handle swear words and jabbing fun at tragic situations.

Armchair Interviews says: A great read for a pessimist, and may be even an optimist.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ABeautifulRevolution.com