"Don't let Are You Happy? pass you by: There's not a word out of place in these brilliant Midwestern sketches. They're lonesome, for sure . . . But they're also hilarious." -Charles Arrowsmith, The Washington Post
"These nine startling stories capture the subtleties of feeling-and being made to feel-out of place . . .. Ostlund proves herself a master of the form."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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.
