“The Forest of Hanging Foxes” is a picaresque novel full of a particular, yet very understandable Finnish humor and simple, witty everyday wisdom—thanks to which Arto Paasilinna earned his fame as a philosopher and humorist. Where can thirty-six kilograms of gold be safely hidden? That is exactly the question asked by Oiva Joutunen, a bandit who refuses, under any circumstances, to share the stolen treasure with his accomplices. For the sake of secrecy, he decides to lie low—not just anywhere, but in the deep forests of Lapland. And everything would be fine, but keeping things secret in a deserted cabin proves almost impossible: a major from the once formidable Finnish army wanders in, sent on leave because of long-standing drunkenness; a ninety-year-old Sámi woman hides with her decrepit cat from social services employees; then a fox kit steals some “five hundred crowns” from somewhere; and then someone else…