David Machado

Did you know that people in Cyprus feel happier than the Portuguese and that they rate their happiness the same as the Nigerians? Is it possible to measure happiness? Daniel, the novel’s protagonist, has long believed that the happy ones are those who achieve their goals, and he ponders this very question. A born optimist, he had his life planned out as early as at secondary school. But then, suddenly, his well-planned future collapsed. Should he feel unhappy? Not at all. His stubbornness to understand what happiness is all about takes him on a somewhat crazy journey across Europe in a yellow minibus, all to fulfil someone’s big wish.

Published by Bourdon, 2021

David Machado (*1978) is an economist by profession. After losing his job during the economic recession, he began to devote himself entirely to literature. He is now the author of several novels and a collection of short stories and has also written successfully for children and young people. His novel The Shelf Life of Happiness (2013) won the European Union Prize for Literature and was subsequently adapted into a film.