John Preston

Why are Scandinavians so happy when they should be so sad? 

Boring, lazy people who eat filthy food — there's no such thing as the 'Nordic miracle', pooh-poohs Michael Booth in The Almost Nearly Perfect People

Do you believe in Elves? Photo: John Anster Fitzgerald 
issue 25 January 2014

As I sit here in my Sarah Lund Fair Isle sweater, polishing my boxed sets of Borgen and nibbling on a small piece of herring, it briefly occurs to me that perhaps I too have fallen victim to the prevailing mania for all things Scandinavian. Just about the only person who’s stayed resistant, it seems, is Michael Booth, the author of this book.

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