Apparently, this guy is a big deal in the book world. He wrote “A Man Called Ove”, which is supposed to be a fan favorite, but I’ve never read it.

The cover of this book says that it’s a comedy. But the problem is that, in a book, you lose the element of timing, which is CRUCIAL to telling a joke. A joke without timing is like a pasta salad without pasta. Also, I think some of these jokes might work better in Swedish (“How’s tricks?”) and I don’t envy the work the translator had to do. But nothing makes me laugh anyway, so don’t judge me on that.

But overall, it’s a good job all around. The style of storytelling is what’s crucial here. It reminds me of a Wes Anderson movie. It’s like the story is told “around the plot”, if that makes any sense. Imagine a guy at a shooting range who shoots an outline around the target. It’s an impressive feat, but you still haven’t hit the guy.

But I did get invested and that’s because the characters are very relatable. They each suffer from some form of anxiety so you get equal parts comedy and drama, which I think lots of writers miss. They write strictly one or the other. So in dramas, no one makes a joke, no one attempts to be funny. But in reality, people make jokes all the time, especially in serious situations. They’re always trying to be comedy relief because that’s the kind of person who’s likable. And that’s who all these characters are. This would make a good quirky play — there’s a strong set of characters and they all have good characterization scenes. Good for an ensemble cast.