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In 2006, a psychologist at the University of Leicester released the first ever "

." Denmark took the top spot. Reporter Michael Booth was living in Copenhagen at the time and he had a hard time believing the study. How could a land with astronomically high taxes and perpetual rain be home to the happiest people on earth? 

Booth digs into that question, and many others, in "The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia." 

For many Americans, Scandinavia is the land that brought us ABBA, cross-country skiing, saunas and some really stylish sweaters. For Minnesota, the bond runs deeper: a third of the state claims some Scandinavian heritage, compared to only 4 percent nationwide.

Popular cliches about life in Scandinavia abound: College is free, babies are left outside, everyone is tall and people pay 60 percent taxes with a smile on their face. But what's it really like?

 how culturally different the Scandinavian countries are from each other: 


Booth joined MPR News' Kerri Miller to discuss the book.

Scandinavian countries routinely rank high in happiness studies. What's going on up there?

Scandinavians: An 'Almost Nearly Perfect People?'

Go Deeper.

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