'Some of my peers generously regard me as a curmudgeon, but in my heart of hearts I know otherwise. In a very real sense, I am a complete and utter bastard' As Joe Queenan approached his fiftieth year, he began to feel the effects of a lifetime spent being clinically unpleasant. He looked at icons of goodness - Sting, Ben & Jerry, Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere - and saw happy, vibrant, upbeat people, in stark contrast to the mean-spirited, dried-up cynic he knew himself to be. So he decided to set out on a journey of spiritual self-regeneration. And, aware that there is no point in being a wonderful person unless everyone knows about it, he determined to make damn sure people got the facts and figures.