Set in a North American milieu of detachment and alienation, the stories in We Are Busy Being Alive document the attempts of disillusioned characters to re-enchant themselves with a seemingly indifferent world. Their flailing quests after a sense of purpose are equal parts tragic, absurd, frivolous, and touchingly human. A drug-fuelled romance with a stolen painting; a sexual awakening at the dentist’s; a crisis of personality from the months-long haze of a forest fire. Small spectacles dangle outside the confines of the everyday, keeping the restless characters reaching. The stories are a nudge out the door and into the lonesome night, with a wink and a shrug as if to say—what else to do? Through each quiet inflection of hope, mischief, and despair, We Are Busy Being Alive reacquaints readers with the magical qualities of their miserable, monumental lives.