{"product_id":"tomas-jonsson-bestseller","title":"Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Guðbergur Bergsson achieved success with his novel \u003ci\u003eTómas Jónsson, Bestseller\u003c\/i\u003e, which shocked Icelandic readers in innumerable ways, lashing out as it does at the Icelandic society of the post-war years for its cultural confusion, amorality, and hypocrisy. The main character is a grumpy old man who speaks and writes in various styles, grumbles and babbles and criticizes everything.\"--Dagný Kristjánsdóttir\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA retired, senile bank clerk confined to his basement apartment, Tómas Jónsson 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, Tómas 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsidered by many to be the 'Icelandic \u003ci\u003eUlysses\u003c\/i\u003e' for its wordplay, neologisms, structural upheaval, and reinvention of what's possible in Icelandic writing, \u003ci\u003eTómas Jónsson, Bestseller\u003c\/i\u003e was a bestseller, heralding a new age of Icelandic literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGuðbergur Bergsson\u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLytton Smith\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe All-Purpose Magical Tent\u003c\/i\u003e, and has translated works from Bragi Ólafsson, Jón Gnarr, and Kristin Ómarsdóttir, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGuðbergur Bergsson\u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eTómas Jónsson, Bestseller\u003c\/i\u003e is considered Iceland's first modernist novel.\u003c\/p\u003eP\u0026gt;\u003cb\u003eLytton Smith\u003c\/b\u003e is a poet and translator, and a founding member of Blind Tiger Poetry. His book, \u003ci\u003eThe All-Purpose Magical Tent\u003c\/i\u003e was published by Nightboat. His translations include works from Bragi Ólafsson, Jón Gnarr, Kristin Ómarsdóttir, and Guðbergur Bergsson.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Letter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50365855858962,"sku":"9781940953601","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8556df2a-19b1-499c-bb6d-5d589e5aeeab.jpg?v=1728465200","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/tomas-jonsson-bestseller","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}