The Year of Perfect Happiness

In this smart collection, awarded the 2014 Katherine Anne Porter prize for short fiction, Adnot-Haynes's dazzles with her wit and insight about the tenuous nature of relationships as a range of characters reveal their innermost thoughts. In "Baby Baby," unemployed Mina dons a fake pregnancy belly in secret, while ironically, a pop H is wrongly accused of a pregnancy sham. As the author plumbs the psyche of a woman who is dissatisfied with more than just her self-image, readers witness a loving relationship implode. In "Planche, Whip, Salto," a 33-year-old woman hides her new passion to become a trapeze artist from her husband, reveling in the freedom and sheer joy of flying through the air to such an extent that she leaves her steady job behind and embarks on an affair with her trainer. In the title story, we follow Davis, a man in his thirties searching for an improbable year of perfect happiness, who flits from one woman to the next, from Manhattan, to Phoenix, and finally to Florida where his parents reside. Incapable of commitment or any true responsibility, his life spirals downward, and it becomes clear true happiness is an impossibility. In this winning collection, each story is a gem. (Oct.)