Welcome to the blog for Utility, a book exploring happiness.
Utility is a fictional tale of woman who moves from Los Angeles to Northern Illinois to take care of her dying aunt and hunt possum. At its surface, Utility is a comedy. Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll find a somewhat serious exploration of happiness.
The blog on this website is a companion to the book. In each blog post, I’ll shed some light on fine details and deeper meanings within the book, but I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers.
I admit that Utility is sometimes a hard read, but the best way to explore happiness is to make our main character as unhappy as possible so that she can find her way back to joy. Don’t worry, though – most of the book is silly.
Each wacky character represents a different type of happiness. The main character, Alynna, comes from a deeply unhappy and unhealthy relationship with her mother. Alynna believes that marrying a wealthy man will be the key to happiness, while her mom finds joy in sleeping with Alynna’s boyfriend. Other characters personify happiness through religion, drinking, pets, family, guns, and more.
Every chapter title explores bliss as well. In fact, you can put “Happiness is” in front of every chapter title:
Chapter 1 – Anywhere but Here
Chapter 2 – A Room with a View
Chapter 3 – A Long Walk
Chapter 4 – A Nice Meal
Chapter 5 – Good Friends
Chapter 6 – A Nice Job
Chapter 7 – Finer Things
Chapter 8 – The Simple Life
Chapter 9 – A Nice Home
Chapter 10 – A Warm Gun
Chapter 11 – A Celebration
Chapter 12 – A Cold Beer
Chapter 13 – A Good Deal
Chapter 14 – The Company You Keep
Chapter 15 – Gone
Chapter 16 – A Valiant Battle
I have also developed a companion Facebook page, written in the voice of the main character, Alynna Swims. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/alynna.swims/
You can also purchase Utility from a number of distributors, such as:
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/utility/id6761905002
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/utility-alynna-swims/1149865478
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/utility-alynna-swims/44f02fdde76d07d6?ean=9798234044495&next=t&digital=t
Fable: https://fable.co/book/x-9798234044495
Rakuten kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/utility-6?sId=612f6a07-12d5-49a2-af4c-7813d2d08466&ssId=vd720OHgVuSoVHzyWszSn
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2007811
Thalia: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1079109152
Vivlio: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9798234044495_9798234044495_10020/utility
Thank you so much for following along! Please let me know your thoughts on Utility.
