Not many memoirs can give you an earworm. It may be impossible, however, to read Alain Rheault’s Joie de Vivre: The Formula to Enjoyment of Life without hearing Bobby McFerrin performing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in your head. Rheault’s irrepressibly upbeat outlook on life fills every page of his advice-filled memoir. In keeping with the trend toward what New York Times columnist Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow recently called the “self-help memoir” subgenre, Rheault offers instructive anecdotes from a life well lived. Readers have embraced this alternative to the confessional memoir, with titles like Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Projectand Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love topping the charts. Here, readers will find similar advice from a new point of view.
I recently met with Karen Nedzielski of Viking Albert’s The Weekly Review. She had some very kind words about Joie de Vivre and I’m very glad I had the chance to meet her!