The Happiest Man in the World looks under the carpet of post-modernism to search for competence and humour in a world of habitual assumptions about social, political, and sexual awareness. The characters, and the author, in these stories discover that their roles, and their role models are not as clear as they seem to be — husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, psychiatrists and sailors, fishermen and fish, and the girl and the wolf all have their conventional roles drop away as their dreams enter their everyday lives. The Happiest Man in the World moves between cynicism, wonder, and a resigned amazement, as he examines his own, and others’, places in post-feminist North American society.

David Arnason was born in Gimli, Manitoba, in 1940. He has a Master’s Degree from the University of Manitoba and a PhD from the University of New Brunswick. He divides his time between Winnipeg, where he teaches Canadian literature and creative writing at the University of Manitoba, and Gimli, where he does most of his writing. He has also taught Canadian literature and creative writing in Tasmania, Trier, and Strasbourg.His works include two collections of poetry, Marsh Burning and Skrag, and four collections of short stories: Fifty Stories and a Piece of Advice, The Circus Performer’s Bar, The Happiest Man in the World, and The Pagan Wall.

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“A wonderful book.”
— Globe & Mail