Arto Paasilinna was born on 20 April 1942 in the Alakylä[citation needed] part of the municipality of Kittilä, in Lapland, Finland.

[10] Paasilinna initially worked as a journalist at Nuoren Voiman Liitto, Nuori Voima and various newspapers as writer and editor.

[11] In 1975, at the age of 33, Paasilinna found journalism growing "more superficial and meaningless" and desired a change;[12] that summer, he sold his boat to fund the writing of The Year of the Hare.

[12] The book was an immediate success and from 1975 on Paasilinna became an independent writer[6][10] able to support himself with his novels, signed to Finnish publisher WSOY since 1977.

[23] Fast-paced, light and humorous in style, many of these narratives can be described as picaresque[23] adventure stories with often a satirical angle towards modern life.

Vatanen, the hero of this novel, takes an injured young hare with him on his quest, nursing the animal back to health, while his own dissatisfaction with his former urban lifestyle becomes ever more evident.

The multinational castaways (Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and English) give Paasilinna ample opportunity to poke fun at issues of language domination and national stereotypes.

The castaways set up a cashless society in which the only remuneration comes in the form of a cup of alcohol distilled in their jungle café in exchange for work for the collectivity.