Happy stories, mostly
Call Number
- FICTION PASA (CEN)
Edition
First Feminist Press edition.
Languages
Translated from the Indonesian.
Publication Information
New York, NY : The Feminist Press, at the City University of New York, 2023.
Physical Description
146 pages ; 21 cm
Uniform Title
Summary
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. An 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, Happy Stories, Mostly considers an oblique approach to human In the words of one of the stories' narrators, "I work in the dark. Like mushrooms. I don't need light to thrive."
Notes
"The original Indonesian-language versions of the stories in this book were first published in Cerita-cerita Bahagia, Hampir Seluruhnya by Norman Erikson Pasaribu (Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2020)"--Title page verso.
Contents
- Enkidu comes knocking on New Year's Eve
- A Bedtime story for your long sleep
- So what's your name, Sandra?
- A Young poet's guide to surviving a broken heart
- The True story of the story of the giant
- Three love you, four despise you
- Metaxu : Jakarta, 2038
- Deep brown, verging on black
- Welcome to the Department of Unanswered Prayers
- Ad maioren dei gloriam
- Our descendants will be as numerous as the clouds in the sky
- Her story
- Publication notes
- Author acknowledgments
- A mostly happy chat about Happy stories, mostly.