Sturla Jón Jónsson, the fifty-something building superintendent and sometimes poet, has been invited to a poetry festival in Vilnius, Lithuania, appointed, as he sees it, as the official representative of the people of Iceland to the field of poetry. His latest poetry collection, published on the eve of his trip to Vilnius, is about to cause some controversy in his home country—Sturla is publicly accused of having stolen the poems from his long-dead cousin, Jónas.
Then there’s Sturla’s new overcoat, the first expensive item of clothing he has ever purchased, which causes him no end of trouble. And the article he wrote for a literary journal, which points out the stupidity of literary festivals and declares the end of his career as a poet. Sturla has a lot to deal with, and that’s not counting his estranged wife and their five children, nor the increasingly bizarre experiences and characters he’s forced to confront at the festival in Vilnius . . .
Bragi Ólafsson’s The Ambassador is a quirky novel that’s filled with insightful and wry observations about aging, family, love, and the mysteries of the hazelnut.
Then there’s Sturla’s new overcoat, the first expensive item of clothing he has ever purchased, which causes him no end of trouble. And the article he wrote for a literary journal, which points out the stupidity of literary festivals and declares the end of his career as a poet. Sturla has a lot to deal with, and that’s not counting his estranged wife and their five children, nor the increasingly bizarre experiences and characters he’s forced to confront at the festival in Vilnius . . .
Bragi Ólafsson’s The Ambassador is a quirky novel that’s filled with insightful and wry observations about aging, family, love, and the mysteries of the hazelnut.
Lytton Smith is a founding member of Blind Tiger Poetry. His book, The All-Purpose Magical Tent was selected by Terrance Hayes for the Nightboat Prize. His poems and reviews have appeared in such publications as The Atlantic, The Believer, Boston Review, and the anthology All That Mighty Heart: London Poems.
October 12, 2010
Novel
Paperback, 298 pages
$15.95 $12.75
5.5" x 8.5"
978-1-934824-13-9
1-934824-13-5
Novel
Paperback, 298 pages
5.5" x 8.5"
978-1-934824-13-9
1-934824-13-5
“Dark, strange, elusive, compelling, and oddly charming.”
—Kirkus Reviews (on The Pets)
"The best short novel I’ve read this year. . . . Small, dark, and hard to put down, The Pets may be a classic in the literature of small enclosed spaces."
—Paul LaFarge (on The Pets)
Back in Reykjavik after a vacation in London, Emil Halldorsson is waiting for a call from a beautiful girl, Greta, that he met on the plane ride home, and he’s just put on a pot of coffee when an unexpected visitor knocks on the door. Peeking through a window, Emil spies an erstwhile friend—Havard Knutsson, his one-time roommate and current resident of a Swedish mental institution—on his doorstep, and he panics, taking refuge under his bed and hoping the frightful nuisance will simply go away.
Havard won’t be so easily put off, however, and he breaks into Emil’s apartment and decides to wait for his return—Emil couldn’t have gone far; the pot of coffee is still warming on the stove. While Emil hides under his bed, increasingly unable to show himself with each passing moment, Havard discovers the booze, and he ends up hosting a bizarre party for Emil's friends, and Greta.
An alternately dark and hilarious story of cowardice, comeuppance, and assumed identity, the breezy and straightforward style of The Pets belies its narrative depth, and disguises a complexity that grows with every page.
Havard won’t be so easily put off, however, and he breaks into Emil’s apartment and decides to wait for his return—Emil couldn’t have gone far; the pot of coffee is still warming on the stove. While Emil hides under his bed, increasingly unable to show himself with each passing moment, Havard discovers the booze, and he ends up hosting a bizarre party for Emil's friends, and Greta.
An alternately dark and hilarious story of cowardice, comeuppance, and assumed identity, the breezy and straightforward style of The Pets belies its narrative depth, and disguises a complexity that grows with every page.
Janice Balfour was born in Scotland and relocated to Iceland in 1972. She studied literature and Italian at the University of Iceland, and started translating articles and texts for museums shortly thereafter. In addition to Bragi Ólafsson, she has translated two collections of short stories by Gyrðir Elíasson (currently unpublished in English). She currently works for the Icelandic Red Cross Association.
October 15, 2008
Novel
Hardcover, 157 pages
$14.95 $11.95
5.5" x 8.5"
978-1-934824-01-6
1-934824-01-1
Novel
Hardcover, 157 pages
5.5" x 8.5"
978-1-934824-01-6
1-934824-01-1
"Brilliantly written and funny, no, very funny . . . The Pets is one of the best pieces of Nordic literature I've read in a long time."
—Berlingske Tidende (Denmark)
"I'm convinced beyond any doubt that Bragi Ólafsson is among our best authors."
—DV newspaper (Iceland)
"The best short novel I’ve read this year must be Bragi Ólafsson’s The Pets, which makes more room for strangeness in its 157 pages than most novels can find in two or three times that length. . . .Small, dark, and hard to put down, The Pets may be a classic in the literature of small enclosed spaces."
—Barnes & Noble Review