Jon Fosse said farewell to theory early in his career, choosing poetry, fiction, and drama as his mediums of choice. Here, however, in a selection from his two books of essays, we see just how incisive a critic and memoirist he can be. Not only including a generous portion of Fosse's writing on literature and theater--including the irresistable "Thomas Bernhard and His Grandfather"--this collection also includes such personal essays such as "My Dear New Norwegian," "Old Houses," and "He Who Didn't Want to Become a Teacher."

17-year-old Aksel Morander encounters Amalie and it proves a turning point in his life. Not only does he fall in love for the first time but is introduced to a world unfamiliar and unconventional, that places everything around him in a new light. Finding himself raised up from the loneliness and darkness of what has gone before, he is forced to reassess all he holds dear as he is initiated into what makes life worth living. But jealousy and fear of abandonment lurk in the shadow of this first love.

An intense novel about loneliness and agonizing passion, employing a reverse chronology,...

Inspector Kristian Wold is assigned to a year-old missing person s case. His superiors instructions are clear: one last review before they shelve it. Nevertheless, when the mother of the 14-year-old missing girl asks to see him, his conscience gets the better of him and he agrees to a meeting; a meeting that has unforeseen consequences for both of them."

One of Jon Fosse's most acclaimed novels, Boathouse is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator leading a largely hermit-like existence until he unexpectedly encounters a long-lost childhood friend and his wife. Told partially in a stream-of-consciousness style and with an atmosphere reminiscent of a gripping crime novel, Boathouse slowly unravels the story of a love triangle leading to jealousy, betrayal, and eventually death.

Lou is a French novelist living in London, married to Var, a small-town Norwegian woman. Together they form a couple with rather unusual ideas about marital fidelity, Var spending much of her time on liaisons with the teenaged Sydney, and Lou's work in progress detailing his own desperate need for new lovers. Of course, their polyamorous life is also freighted with jealousies as each deals with the difficulties and pains of their partners forming strong connections with other lovers. Told in a brisk, economical style, Poppy's novel compellingly explores the complicated matter of needing and...