One of Finland’s most successful novelists, Arto Paasilinna penned thirty-five novels and other books during a career spanning 50 years, and his appeal reached far beyond Finland in a way few other Finnish authors have before. His tragi-comical stories about life have seduced millions of readers around the world, with his work being translated into 40 languages and over eight million copies of his books sold worldwide.

His darkly comic lens on life explores the inner reaches of the Finnish wilderness as much as it does the murky psychology of a writer who never shied from the tough subjects of suicide, aging and depression—but always brought heart and humour to his writing.