AshehougAgency

Samiland

Roy and Leif work at the post office in a small town far up in the north of Norway. True slackers with a more than moderate passion for hot dogs and potato chips, they nevertheless dream of easy money and a better future. One day they get an idea: Maybe they can set up a Samiland, an amusement park based on the Sami culture that will attract Japanese tourists? Equipped with reindeer skins, Russian vodka mixed with juniper berries and a dash of confectioner’s colouring, and a fair share of naïve optimism, they start bringing their dream to life. But things don’t turn out the way they had planned.

A hilarious comedy from the wild north, Magne Hovden’s first novel will appeal to anybody who likes the novels of Arto Paasilinna or Mikael Niemi.

Visit Samiland online: www.sameland.net

Praise for SAMILAND:

“This is a book that, in the true spirit of Robbie Williams, howls ‘let me en entertaaaain yooou’ from the very first page (…) Magne Hovden definitely has a sense of humour, illustrated by shrewd observations and clever lines, which never seem feigned.”
(Dagsavisen)

”the person who manages to read this novel without laughing – a lot – must lack some kind of gene. (…) The author must have enjoyed writing this novel. I certainly enjoyed reading it”
(Fædrelandsvennen)

”He knows what he is doing, and why. He writes with humorous flair and precision, and with ears tuned in to the really good dialogue.”
(NRK)

”Above all, Hovden displays a genuine love for the people of the far north (…) a funny literary debut (…) charming”
(Dagbladet)

”absurd and hysterically funny (…) extremely entertaining (…) It’s been a long while since I have read a book and laughed this loud and heartily (…) Tourism in Sør-Varanger [the municipality in which the story in Sami Land takes place] will never be the same again after you have read Magne Hovden’s book Sami Land”
(Sør-Varanger Avis)

”not far between the funny dialogues, the wicked descriptions. The book is permeated with a burlesque sense of humour, which propels the story forward”
(Bergens Tidende)

First published: 2010, Aschehoug
Magne Hovden: Biography and bibliography

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