"Once I read the first story in Are You Happy?, I put aside everything else to savor the rest. This is a wise collection, capturing its characters swimming upstream to encounter their fates. With vivid and compassionate prose that explores the countless ways we betray and then rediscover ourselves, Lori Ostlund reminds us of the vitality of the genre."
—Jai Chakrabarti, author of A Play for the End of the World and A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness
Nine exquisite stories that explore class, desire, identity, and the specter of violence that looms daily over women and the LGBTQ+ community.
An aspiring veterinarian survives a plane crash and starts life over in California. A woman mourns the loss of her childhood friend’s innocence and rethinks justice. A queer teacher's sense of safety in the classroom is destroyed. With settings ranging from small-town Minnesota to New Mexico, from bars and bedrooms to a furniture store and a community college, Are You Happy? casts a spotlight on people who try—and often fail—to make peace with their pasts while navigating their present relationships and notions of self. In prose that is evocative and restrained, unpredictable and masterful, Lori Ostlund offers a darkly humorous and compassionate examination of America’s preoccupation with loneliness, happiness, guns, and violence.
—Jai Chakrabarti, author of A Play for the End of the World and A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness
Nine exquisite stories that explore class, desire, identity, and the specter of violence that looms daily over women and the LGBTQ+ community.
An aspiring veterinarian survives a plane crash and starts life over in California. A woman mourns the loss of her childhood friend’s innocence and rethinks justice. A queer teacher's sense of safety in the classroom is destroyed. With settings ranging from small-town Minnesota to New Mexico, from bars and bedrooms to a furniture store and a community college, Are You Happy? casts a spotlight on people who try—and often fail—to make peace with their pasts while navigating their present relationships and notions of self. In prose that is evocative and restrained, unpredictable and masterful, Lori Ostlund offers a darkly humorous and compassionate examination of America’s preoccupation with loneliness, happiness, guns, and violence.
Book Details
Format:
Hardcover
Price:
26 USD / 36 CAD
Published: 2025-05-06
ISBN: 9781662603020
Imprint:
Astra House
Page Count: 272
Trim Size: 5-1/2 x 8-1/4
“Are You Happy? is bright, swift, and heartbreakingly direct in its portrayal of how home can sometimes leave a lingering bruise. Seriously, how does she do it?! Lori Ostlund is funny and wry; her work cuts to the quick. Every story I read made me feel deeply known. I’ve long been a fan of hers and this book does not disappoint. A short story collection that is truly all hits, no misses.”
—Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth and Mostly Dead Things
“When you finish a short story by Lori Ostlund, you feel fundamentally changed in the same way you do when you finish a great novel. The world as you’ve known it before feels different now, more complex, richer, full of new depths, and often funnier. I don’t know if there’s anyone in the country writing better short stories than Lori Ostlund at the moment. Not for my money, at least. This is as near to perfect as a short story collection can get.”
—Andrew Porter, author of The Disappeared
"Lori Ostlund is one of our country's finest short story writers, a true national gem. Are You Happy? showcases her clear-eyed, emotionally astute, and often slyly funny prose. With a deft hand, one that manages to float gently as it cuts deeply, Ostlund explores recognizable American lives reckoning with injustice and seeking connection. Relevant, devastating, and ultimately redemptive, this book is a must have for anyone who cares about anything."
—Heidi Pitlor, author of The Daylight Marriage
