{"product_id":"happy-stories-mostly-9781952177057","title":"Happy Stories, Mostly","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn their stunning fiction debut, queer Indonesian writer Norman Erikson Pasaribu blends together speculative fiction and dark absurdism, drawing from Batak and Christian cultural elements.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eLonglisted for the International Booker Prize, \u003ci\u003eHappy Stories, Mostly\u003c\/i\u003e introduces \"one of the most important Indonesian writers today\" (\u003ci\u003eLitro Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e). These twelve short stories ask what it means to be almost happy--to nearly find joy, to sort-of be accepted, but to never fully grasp one's desire. Joy shimmers on the horizon, just out of reach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn employee navigates their new workplace, a department of Heaven devoted to archiving unanswered prayers; a tourist in Vietnam seeks solace following her son's suicide; a young student befriends a classmate obsessed with verifying the existence of a mythical hundred-foot-tall man. A tragicomic collection that probes the miraculous, melancholy nature of survival amid loneliness, \u003ci\u003eHappy Stories, Mostly\u003c\/i\u003e considers an oblique approach to human life: In the words of one of the stories' narrators, \"I work in the dark. Like mushrooms. I don't need light to thrive.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Feminist Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/06\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781952177057\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 168","brand":"Norman Erikson Pasaribu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42835644612789,"sku":"9781952177057","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_cb1c8167-6a02-4ff5-8b49-590e89cdeb40.jpg?v=1681225159","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/happy-stories-mostly-9781952177057","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}