The Feel-Good Hit of the Year: A Memoir

'Will break your heart and give you chuckles. What more do you want?' John Safran 'The most achingly funny, heartsplittingly tragic and brilliantly written book you'll read this year.' Benjamin Law Liam Pieper was raised by his bohemian parents to believe in freedom and creativity, and that there's nothing wrong with smoking a little marijuana to make life more interesting. A fast learner, Liam combined hippie self-actualisation with gen Y entrepreneurialism. By his early teens he had a fledgling drug habit, and a thriving business selling pot around the suburbs of Melbourne from the back of his pushbike. He picked up important life skills, like how to befriend a deranged jujitsu master, how to impress his girlfriend's mother by getting arrested in front of her, and how to negotiate pocket money based on how much he was charging his parents for an ounce. But from these highs (chemical, financial and otherwise), Liam's life fell to dramatic lows. The muddled flower child became a petty criminal and an amoral coke monster. After a family tragedy and then his arrest on several counts of possession and trafficking, Liam had to consider: had it been a mistake to adopt the practices of a counterculture without any of its ethics? Hilarious, compelling and sometimes heartbreaking, The Feel-Good Hit of the Year is a memoir about family, addiction and learning how to live with yourself, from a sharp and original new Australian voice. 'Liam Pieper is a truly gifted writer and storyteller. The Feel-Good Hit of the Year is often hilarious, at times heartbreaking and always a fascinating view into an unconventional but compelling life.' Lally Katz 'Made my skin clammy and heart palpitate like all good memoirs of a misspent youth should.' Tim Rogers 'I always knew Liam was talented and I'd always suspected he had a couple screws loose, and now I have proof of both. The Feel-Good Hit of the Year is a brilliant piece of work. ' Anna Krien 'To lead a deranged, tragic and funny life is one thing, but to make a book this unsentimentally beautiful out of it is nothing short of criminal. Read it before every other goddamn person does.' Benjamin Law 'This carefully constructed memoir deftly touches on some of the most difficult subjects: addiction, shame, guilt and the bitter-sweet troubles of family relationships. This is a clever book executed by a skilful writer with a razor-sharp wit . . . Pieper's book is crazy good. He had me hooked from the first page to the last.' Krissy Kneen 'This book is so good that it makes reading other books less enjoyable. Boy, can he write.' Angie Hart 'Very funny and packed with inventive expressions . . . This reads like a wittier, Gen-Y answer to perennial sellers such as Howard Marks' Mr Nice and James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.' Australian Bookseller+Publisher 'This is a book to be devoured quickly and then reflected on slowly. It's intimate, raw and occasionally heartbreaking. Pieper is a fiercely talented writer, and The Feel-Good Hit of the Year stands as one of the best Australian memoirs of the past few years.' Readings.com.au 'Pieper is a sharp, smart and classy writer.' Saturday Paper 'A revelatory memoir told with great poise.' Men's Style 'It will make you laugh out loud, and cry, as Pieper talks about his crazy life. You'll be amazed in so many ways. Lucky your chair is so comfy as you won't want to leave it until you're finished the book.' Sunday Canberra Times 'This is one of those 'you had me at hello' reads. The title, with its tongue-in-cheek meaning, signals a refreshingly cheeky take on life but nothing quite prepared this reader for the comic absurdity of a teen drug dealer selling dope to his hippy parents. A disarmingly charming rogue, Liam Pieper documents his precocious entrepreneurial talent as he slides out of school and into dealing, with hilarious deadpan understatement and the delivery of a seasoned raconteur.' Caroline Bau