Generosity

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s “provocative . . . dazzling” novel delves into the possibilities and consequences of finding the genetic basis for happiness (Ron Charles, The Washington Post).

A refugee from the Algerian civil war, Thassadit Amzwar has not only survived terrible trauma, but also emerged from it with an unflagging sense of joy and optimism. Could it be that her infectious joy—which has inspired her fellow creative nonfiction students at the Mesquakie College of Art—is rooted in a genetic condition known as hyperthymia?

When her condition captures the public imagination—and the attention of a pioneering geneticist—events are set in motion that bring profound questions into focus. What will happen to life when science identifies the genetic basis of happiness? Who will own the patent? Do we dare revise our own temperaments? Funny, fast, and magical, Generosity celebrates both science and the freed imagination.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year