Popular Music - Hardcover

Mikael Niemi

3.66

9,799 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007145500 ISBN 13: 9780007145508

Publisher: Harpercollins Pub Ltd, 2003

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Lovely, funny, Roddy Doyle-esque coming-of-age story set in 1960s Sweden Growing up in the small town of Pajala in the northernmost corner of Sweden can be hard for a boy, and Matti's adolescence is no exception. It's fun to ski, do snuff and drink moonshine, but in this unforgiving arctic wilderness where real men shoot elk and fight on dance floors, you have to be prepared to sit for hours in the hottest sauna imaginable; you must do your best to avoid the latest round of chain thumpings (Anders thumps Nisse; Nisse's big brother thumps Anders; Anders's even bigger brother thumps...) And you must never, ever be less than a man. So when the first Beatles single roars like the breaking of the winter ice into this remote corner of the Arctic Circle, Matti has a choice to make. He'd love to form a band, impress the girls and sing along in broken English to those Sixties Classics Ollyu Nidis Lav and Owatter Shayd Ovpail. But with the menfolk of Pajala looking on, can the two boys really get away with with something as undoubtedly girly as wanting to sing in front of other people while completely sober? Wrap up warm and join Matti, Niila and the unforgettable community of Pajala in a wonderfully warm tale of weddings and sauna contests, the incomparable thrill of your first kiss -- and of finally hearing the Beatles. Fantastically funny, engaging and charming story of growing up in Sweden in the 1960s. One of the freshest, funniest debuts of recent years. A phenomenal bestseller in Sweden - over half a million sold in pb - and a very popular winner of that country's Booker Prize, the August Prize. Rights sold throughout Europe and USA.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Mikael Niemi is an established Swedish children's author and poet. This is his first book for adults.

Review:

From the Swedish reviews: 'A masterpiece which vibrates with life and humour...Niemi is a born storyteller' 'Merry and wild' 'Sometimes books like this just seem to turn up from nowhere. I have rarely met such a joyful mixture of hi-jinks and thoughtfullness' 'This novel twists and turns, bubbles, boils and ferments. Brilliant.'

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.