Tomas Jonsson, Bestseller

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A retired, senile bank clerk confined to his basement apartment, Tomas Jonsson decides that, since memoirs are all the rage, he's going to write his own - a sure bestseller - that will also right the wrongs of contemporary Icelandic society. Egoistic, cranky, and digressive, Tomas blasts away while relating pick-up techniques, meditations on chamber pot use, ways to assign monetary value to noise pollution, and much more. His rants parody and subvert the idea of the memoir - something that's as relevant today in our memoir-obsessed society as it was when the novel was first published.

Reviews

"Bergsson is known in his homeland for his translations of Gabriel Garca Mrquez, and the debt to Garca Mrquez is clear in this sparsely sensual, idyllic fable of country matters."Publishers Weekly "

Author Bio

Gubergur Bergsson is the author of twenty-one books, from novels to children's literature, and a translator from Spanish into Icelandic. He has received the Icelandic Literary Prize and the Nordic Prize. His 1966 novel Tmas Jnsson, Bestseller is considered Iceland's first modernist novel. Lytton Smith is a poet and translator, and a founding member of Blind Tiger Poetry. His book, The All-Purpose Magical Tent was published by Nightboat. His translations include works from Bragi lafsson, Jn Gnarr, Kristin marsdttir, and Gubergur Bergsson.