Is a moment of pure happiness worth all the pain along the way? David certainly thinks so; he has left behind his comfortable career as a TV producer for a shot at the big happy. But while he waits for his novel to sell, his life is falling down around him. He's almost thirty, he's single, and his apartment is the size of a Tic Tac. To pay the bills, he takes on work as a downmarket DJ, doing weddings and bar mitzvahs for chump change. At least he has his friends, or does he?

His best friend Annie is about to marry a man David dubs "Rat Boy" and disappear forever. David's trusty bachelor buds Dustin and Cameron are doing the unthinkable and settling down, while Zach, the model of cool, as aloof and evasive as a wisp of smoke, is harboring a secret that could capsize the whole crew. On top of everything, David finds himself falling in love with Janey, an alluring younger woman whose knack for witty repartee is matched only by her instability.

The Big Happy asks the big questions: Can love and happiness coexist? Do friendships ripen, or rot, as we age? And do we ever know what makes us happy?