In 2014, when the Russian-Latvian radio talk-show host Aleks Dubas started asking his celebrity guests to describe a personal "moment of happiness" in their lives, the results were unexpectedly frank and exhilarating. Soon the project expanded to include submissions from 2 million listeners. This book holds a collection of dozens of mini-stories about human joy, ranging from diver's first beholding of the underwater world, to a mother's revelation in sign language, to a Russian rock star's rousing concert in Ukraine. As Aleks puts it, "this book is a distillation – and a catalyst – of intense happiness.

“[H]appiness is a small moment in time when all seems right with the world, when everything around you seems insignificant and when nothing else matters. These moments stay with us and comfort us during difficult times. It is an essential part of our humanity. These are exactly the lessons I took away from… Moments of Happiness… Moments of Happiness is not a self-help book. It is a compilation of people’s own recollections of when they are happy. Yet, when reading these stories, one cannot help but feel a therapeutic nature to the publication. The stories bring the reader into the author’s own state of happiness, and when reading them you start to visualise yourself in the stories. In fact, you often start to relive your own moments of happiness… [T]hese stories are testament to the fact that happiness is universal. It is not dependent on or related to politics, geopolitics, or economic systems. It is a basic human emotion that spans time and space… This is truly the value for all readers – we are reminded how to appreciate these little moments of happiness at a time when there seems to be so much negativity in the world.” –Adam Reichardt, New Eastern Europe

Alex Dubas is a celebrity Russian writer, talk-show host, travel journalist, cultural entrepreneur, and host of the popular radio show Serebriannii Dozhd’ [Silver Rain]. He is a Latvian citizen, now living in Moscow, known for his uniquely bold and “optimistic” take on the joys of art and travel.