Book Description
The Happiness of Others brings together the best stories from Rooke's first two books published in Canada, The Love Parlour (Oberon, 1977) and Cry Evil (Oberon, 1980), both now out of print, with a selection of stories from The Broad Back of the Angel (Fiction Collective, 1977) which was never available in this country.

At the centre of this collection is the novella `The Street of Moons', which, as Rooke writes in the introduction, `takes as its point of departure from that particularly American, particularly nasty sensibility which regards all countries, especially Latin-American ones, as adjuncts of their own property, and their people as second-class citizens who ought to be speaking English.' And as Russell Banks comments, `It's when he's funny ... which he often is, that he's at his most dangerous.... He's a writer with a voice so sharp and personal that he changes your life while you're busy laughing at it.'

About the Author
Leon Rooke was born at Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, 11 September 1934. He was educated at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and was drafted into the US Army infantry for which he served in Alaska.

An energetic and prolific storyteller, Rooke's writing is characterized by inventive language, experimental form, and an extreme range of offbeat characters with distinctive voices. He has written a number of plays for radio and stage, including the published works Krokodile (1973) and Sword/Play (1974), and has produced numerous collections of short stories, including Sing Me No Love Songs I'll Say You No Prayers: Selected Stories (1984). With John Metcalf he edited The New Press Anthology I (1984) and II (1985). It is his novels, however, which have received the most critical acclaim. Fat Woman (1980) was short-listed for the Governor General's Award, whereas, Shakespeare's Dog won for 1983.

Rooke currently lives in the Annex area of Toronto with his wife Constance, and continues his long-time role as artistic director of the Eden Mills Writers' Festival.