“Seriously absorbing”, Entertainment Weekly called it. “Utterly delicious,” Time Out said. Jo Nesbø’ “The Redbreast” has captured the American critics. Now you can meet Nesbø at events in New York and Washington D.C.
April 29: Redbreast Reading New York
April 30: Redbreast Reading Washington, D.C.
May 2: Mean Streets - New York
May 3: Fiction from Fact - New York
May 3: Believer Nighttime With Nesbø - New York
In 2006, Jo Nesbø’s book The Redbreast won the award for best translated thriller in an English speaking country. Six years earlier, the book received the prestigious book award Bokhandlerprisen in Norway. Now you have the chance to meet the writer, musician and economist as he visits the U.S. to attend the PEN World Voices Festival, as well as several other events in New York and one in Washington, D.C.
Jo Nesbø has written a total of seven crime novels about Harry Hole, an alcoholig detective in Norway’s capital Oslo. In "The Redbreast", Hole is drawn into a mystery that deals with "the front men,” the young Norwegians who fought for Hitler, and their idealism that was punished by their countrymen.
"The Redbreast" is the third book in the Harry Hole series, but it is the first Harry Hole book published in the US. And the book got its share of positive reviews in the US aswell: “Nesbo’s book eloquently uses its multiple horrors to advance a disturbing argument: suppressing history is an open invitation for history to repeat itself . . . . . an elegant and complex thriller,” New York Times Book Review wrote. Washington Post called it ”a fine novel, ambitious in concept, skillful in execution and grown-up in its view of people and events. They also pointed out that it’s a political novel, “one concerned with the threat of fascism, in Norway and by implication everywhere”, and concluded with that “[it] certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.”
Make sure you don't miss Nesbø when he visits a place near you:
April 29: Redbreast Reading New York
Jo Nesbø captured a worldwide audience with his novel “The Redbreast”. Now you can meet the author here in New York. Join in when the award winning, PEN-attending Nesbø reads from “The Redbreast” at the Norwegian Church. Following the reading there will be a discussion and book signing. The event is co-sponsored by the Norwegian Consulate General in New York. Books will be available for purchase from 192 Books.
When: Tuesday, April 29, 7:00pm
Where: The Norwegian Church in New York, 317 East 52nd Street (Bet.1st & 2nd Aves.)
Info: Call (212) 319-0370 or visit www.kjerka.com
April 30: Redbreast Reading Washington, D.C.
Jo Nesbø visits Washington D.C. to read from “The Redbreast” at Bridge Street Books. Following the reading there will be a discussion and book signing. The event is co-sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
When: Wednesday April 30, 6:00pm
Where: Bridge Street Books, 2814 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Info: Call (202) 965-5200. Space is limited, so please RSVP by Friday, April 25, to amyk@mfa.no or (202) 944 8925
May 2: Mean Streets - New York
Jo Nesbø has quite a few events on his calendar for his U.S. visit. On Friday May 2 he is part of the Crime Panel at this Pen World Voices event at Scandinavia House in New York.
A distinguished group of writers convenes to explore the notion of the mean streets in their own writing and in literature. A rich tradition of crime and noir fiction has explored society’s underground and the secret dealings that happen far from the public gaze but, have far-reaching implications. Join Christian Jungersen from Denmark, whose novel "The Exception" has received numerous honors; Jo Nesbø from Norway, whose crime fiction has been translated into over 30 languages; Roberto Saviano from Italy, who has been threatened by Neapolitan crime organizations following the publication of his best-selling book "Gomorrah"; and Juan Gabriel Vásquez from Colombia, whose novel "The Informers" was selected as one of the best Colombian novels of the last 25 years. They’ll be joined by noted crime novelist, S.J. Rozan who will guide us through the mean streets.
The event is co-sponsored by The American-Scandinavian Foundation. It is free and open to the public. No reservations.
When: Friday May 2, 5:30-6:30pm
Where: Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave, New York
Info: Call Scandinavia House at (212) 879-9779, or visit their website.
May 3: Fiction from Fact - New York
How does true events inform fictional works? Meet the Fiction from Fact Panel with Jo Nesbø, Nina Revoyr, Juan Gabriel Vásquez and Sasa Stanisic at this PEN World Voices event, moderated by Lila Azam Zanganeh.
Novelists are those rarest of literary alchemists, able to blend elements of historical fact with personal truths and intimate visions. Join PEN for an afternoon exploring some of the ways true events—often little-known or unacknowledged—have informed the work of these four authors. From Nazi ties in Norway in the great Scandinavian crime fiction of Jo Nesbø to the lives of blacklisted Jewish immigrants in Colombia in Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s majesterial "The Informers"; from Japanese-Americans in central Los Angeles in Nina Revoyr’s multi-racial noir thrillers to Bosnian refugees adrift in Germany in Saša Stanišić’s stunning debut, "How the Soldier Repairs the Gramaphone" - all of these writers have, in their own ways, helped to reclaim, and reshape, aspects of their countries’ histories.
When: Saturday, May 3, 12:00-1:30pm
Where: French Institute Alliance Francaise Skylight Auditorium, 55 East 60th Street
Info: Tickets: $12/$8 PEN/FIAF members and students. Purchase tickets from Ticketmaster, or call (212) 307-4100. Visit PEN.
May 3: Believer Nighttime With Nesbø - New York
Believer Magazine event, with Jo Nesbø and Halfdan Freihow, among others.
Hosted by actor, comedian, and writer Michael Ian Black, this year’s Believer event at the PEN World Voices Festival will feature a musical performance by John Wesley Harding, a Vladmaster screening in which every attendee will simultaneously watch a “picture story” through their own personal View-Master, and a panel discussion with Scandinavian authors Halfdan Freihow, Christian Jungersen, Jo Nesbø, and Kristín Ómarsdóttir.
When: Saturday May 3, 6:00pm
Where: New School’s Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, New York
Info: Free and open to the public. No reservations. Visit PEN.