“Even the most serious reader of fiction needs light relief, and for that afternoon when all you want is charm, this is the perfect book.' I wager that you’ll soon fall in love with Ove and be deeply moved by his situation, and after spending time with him, may perhaps gaze at the world around you with a little more empathy than when you turned the first page.' You’ll also want to move to Scandinavia, where everything’s cuter.” “A charming debut…You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel new sympathy for the curmudgeons in your life. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” ( Booklist, starred review).

All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.įredrik Backman’s beloved first novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?īehind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. He’s a curmudgeon-the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window.

#1 New York Times bestseller-more than 3 million copies sold! The word-of-mouth bestseller causing a sensation across Europe, Fredrik Backman's heartwarming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step - and less ready to judge on first impressions a man you might one day wish to have as your dearest friend.Now a major motion picture A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks! In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.īut isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. At first sight, he is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet.

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