Synopses & Reviews
Suddenly realizing what's important in life (with the help of a bunny), a man quits his job and heads to the countryside in this internationally bestselling comic novel.
"Which of us has not had that wonderfully seditious idea: to play hooky for a while from life as we know it?" With these words from his foreword, Pico Iyer puts his finger on the exhilaratingly anarchic appeal of The Year of the Hare.
While out on assignment, a journalist hits a hare with his car. This small incident becomes life-changing: he decides to quit his job, leave his wife, sell his possessions, and spend a year wandering the wilds of Finland — with the bunny as his boon companion.
Review
"This is escapism at its best. . . . Really, it's just pure fun, like an adult fairy tale-a fantasy of what might happen if one day you just said, 'Oh, the hell with it.'" —
Lynn Neary, NPR.org
"[A] wonderful book...Arto Paasilinna's The Year of the Hare provides the perfect escape literature." — Lonely Planet
"A fable of the joys of freedom...The hare proves to be a delightful, undemanding, and loyal companion, who can laugh, listen, and feel embarrassment." — The Boston Globe
"Paasilinna's style is all Finn-a sly sense of humor, a simplicity, a moral compass that points firmly north and out of doors, away from cities....Readers root for Vatanen as he leaps off the mad merry-go-round." — Los Angeles Times
"Compelling...You might just find yourself wishing for a hare to enter your life in the near future." — Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Beguiling, gently ironic...[an] ode to spontaneity and serendipity." — National Geographic Traveler
"Vatanen is who we want to be [and] who we yearn to be brave enough to become, as soon as we stop waiting for the timing to be right." — BookPage
"Hilarious...With its fiercely independent protagonist and its depiction of Finland's wild northland, this comic novel will offer readers a rare opportunity to experience Finland and read one of that country's most popular authors." — Library Journal
"The Year of the Hare offers enjoyable yarns: fun adventures, agreeably related....It's so good-natured and has so much varied action-and that animal-appeal-that it makes for a consistently enjoyable read." — The Complete Review
About the Author
Arto Paasilinna is an award-winning author of more than thirty novels, all of which have been translated into numerous languages.
Pico Iyer's essay for The New York Times about leaving a life as a successful journalist for a simpler life became one of its most e-mailed articles. Iyer is the author of numerous nonfiction books about the cultures of the world.