The Privilege of the Happy Ending: Small, Medium, and Large Stories

A surprising and exciting new collection of speculative and experimental stories that explore animal intelligences, gender, and the nature of stories.

The Privilege of the Happy Ending collects award-winning writer Kij Johnson’s speculative fiction from the last decade. The stories explore gender, animals, and the nature of stories, and range in form from classically told tales to deeply experimental works. The collection includes the World Fantasy Award-winning “The Privilege of the Happy Ending” and “The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe,” as well as two never-before published works.

Kij Johnson (kijjohnson.com) writes speculative and experimental fiction, and has won the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, among others. She also writes gaming material and teaches creative writing, novel idea generation, and science fiction and fantasy lit, at the University of Kansas and elsewhere. She is an associate director of the Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination.