---
product_id: 68904216
title: "Happy Baby"
brand: "elliott"
price: "Bs.313"
currency: BOB
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
category: "Books"
url: https://www.desertcart.bo/products/68904216-happy-baby
store_origin: BO
region: Bolivia
---

# Happy Baby

**Brand:** elliott
**Price:** Bs.313
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Happy Baby by elliott
- **How much does it cost?** Bs.313 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.bo](https://www.desertcart.bo/products/68904216-happy-baby)

## Best For

- elliott enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted elliott brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Happy Baby

## Images

![Happy Baby - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41H5c2sQlpL.jpg)
![Happy Baby - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GOnlJFu1L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Ironic, grim, viciously realistic
  

*by E***W on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2009*

Most people will, I suspect, find this book offensive and won't read beyond the first of a number of sado-masochistic scenes. This is a pity because the book is not really about sex. It's a story told in reverse of the life of a young man and his addiction to pain as a way of feeling something that can change his world. As the story moves on its backward trajectory we come to understand what happened to the happy baby of the title, including the death of his mother and his induction into the welfare system that `cares for' orphans in the USA. In the opening chapter Theo goes back to his home-town, Chicago, and Maria, his first girlfriend, in an effort to understand the degrading and shocking actions that have shaped his life. From there we are on a journey back to Theo's beginnings and the abuse he suffered during adolescence.It is not a comfortable or uplifting read but Elliott does not wallow in the seedier elements, and his language and style are light, distinct and literary. It is beautifully spare and well-written, if barbed by the darkness of a wasted life and exemplified by the harsh irony of the title.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    but I like Stephen Elliott's writing
  

*by M***K on Reviewed in Canada on 15 July 2015*

Not my genre, but I like Stephen Elliott's writing, I wish he had more.  I had to read this after Adderral Diaries.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    The sad effects of sexual abuse.
  

*by J***S on Reviewed in the United States on 5 December 2007*

"Happy Baby" is about a child who experiences so much abuse that it is all he knows and when he grows up, finally able to get away from it, he seeks it out himself.  It's like when the abuser robs you of your childhood and innocence he robs it forever; it's a scar that cannot heal and will most likely only get worse.The story is told in reverse and gets much more emotionally involving as it progresses.  I found the sections detailing the main character's current life a bit trite.  I just felt like I had read it a million times before, with the sadism and the brief European stop-off and the drug use.  But when we get to his youth and read in stark detail what went on as he bounced from different child homes, the book is compelling.  Elliott is exquisite here, not wasting a word, masterfully painting a grim picture of these lost children.  Even more fascinating is the "relationship" Theo has with a guard who abuses him but also protects him.  Theo's mind is not mature enough to comprehend what's going on with this man, and he stays confused even as an adult -- seeking him out not with anger but curiosity and want.It's not surprising to hear that this book is autobiographical; the authenticity of the state homes (the characters, Theo's accepting demeanor) is razor sharp.  I honestly wish the book spent more time there instead of dealing with adult Theo's problems, which felt like a Michael Hemmingson book.If anything, I wish adult Theo was more reflective.  He repeatedly mentions that getting physically hurt clears his mind, but I'm not sure it's totally explained why he doesn't try to stop this trend in his life.  Is it simply an addiction?  There seems to be a slight sense of its absurdity, so why does he do it?I'm somewhat ambivalent about this novel.  While I was underwhelmed by the section on his adulthood, I thought when examining his youth it was quite powerful.  I would definitely recommend this if the subject interests you, and I will be seeking out more of Elliot's work.I think this subject matter -- of how events in our childhood, which our nascent brains can't quite figure out and therefore create these confused, contrasting proclivities for us as adults -- is an intriguing, unsettling one.  Mary Gaitskill does an excellent job of exploring it in her novel "Two Girls Fat and Thin."
  
Two Girls Fat and Thin

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*Product available on Desertcart Bolivia*
*Store origin: BO*
*Last updated: 2026-02-20*