How I Became Stupid

Martin Page is the author of How I Became Stupid, and his book was first published in France where it was a big hit.

Penguin USA has this to say:
Ignorance is bliss, or so hopes Antoine, the lead character in Martin Page’s stinging satire, How I Became Stupid—a modern day Candide with a Darwin Awar–like sensibility. A twenty-five-year-old Aramaic scholar, Antoine has had it with being brilliant and deeply self-aware in today’s culture. So tortured is he by the depth of his perception and understanding of himself and the world around him that he vows to denounce his intelligence by any means necessary—in order to become “stupid” enough to be a happy, functioning member of society. What follows is a dark and hilarious odyssey as Antoine tries everything from alcoholism to stock-trading in order to lighten the burden of his brain on his soul.

Indeed, it is a satire, which amuses me quite a lot. I really like that brand of biting humor. One of my favorite scenes is when Antoine decides that in order to become stupid he should become an alcoholic. He goes to a bar and meets a man who really is an alcoholic. After explaining his dilemma to the man, he agrees to be Antoine's mentor and starts him off with one beer. Antoine awakes in the hospital after coming out of an alcohol-induced coma---after having finished less than half the beer! Some of the humor is very black, and some may find it uncomfortable to read some parts, such as when Antoine decides he should just kill himself and be done with it. Try as he might to become stupid, Antoine fails time and time again.

I think the main point of this book is that no matter how intelligent we are, we will still make stupid choices. Antoine feels burdened by his intelligence, and believes that the less smart a person is, the happier he is. Of course, in the end, he finds that he just has to be himself with all his quirks and "smarts", and realizes that he just might be happy that way.

This book is under 200 pages, so it goes quick. I think it's an excellent commentary on modern day life, and how silly people are to think that life is good only if they are happy all the time.