Although Gustafsson's work is not as widely known in the English-speaking world as his admirers might like it to be, the translation of his short story collection Stories of Happy People did receive some positive reviews when published in 1986. In Studies in Short Fiction, Daniel P. Deneau selected "Greatness Strikes Where It Pleases" as one of the two memorable stories in the collection. He described it as "an absorbing account" of a mentally retarded person, in which, at the end, "in lyrical prose we learn of his feeling of oneness with the universe and his understanding of the great mystery of which mankind is a part." Deneau quotes Gustafsson's statement that "Nobody really knows what a human being is," and comments that in all his stories, including "Greatness Strikes Where It Pleases," "[Gustafsson] quietly illustrates mysteries rather than certainties."

In the September 7, 1986, New York Times Book...