The novel, which has made an international literary star out of Petterson, is merely continuing in its stride, which since its publication on October Publishing in 2003 has won Petterson the IMPAC Dublin award, been featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, won the Norwegian Book Sellers Award as well as numerous other international awards, and received rave reviews wherever it has been released.
"This is unreal. The book is like one long freak accident" says Petterson in a comment to Norwegian daily Dagbladet. He is currently in Norway working on a new book.
The novel is not only declared one of the 10 best works of fiction published in the U.S. in 2007, it is also recognized as one of the most notable books, period. The publishing rights for the book were recently sold to seven more countries, which brings the total tally to a staggering 35.
Earlier this year, Petterson visited New York to participate in the Norwegian Consulate's Literature evenings, which also featured Helene Uri and Lars Svendsen. He also read alongside Lydia Davies at the prestigious Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92 Street Y.
The best fiction of the year is written by Michael Thomas with Man Gone Down. Check out the original New York Times story here (The list will be published in the print edition of the Book Review on December 9). Among the authors sharing the New York Times' spotlight in the Notable Books list with Petterson are Haruki Murakami, Don DeLillo and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. For the entire list, click here.