AshehougAgency

Pixley Mapogo

Jarle Klepp, 35 years old, is about to witness the biggest moment in his life: The reunion of The Smiths on stage. But just before the outdoors concert is about to start, he has to go to the loo. Hurrying back towards the crowd, he sees a young couple having sex in the woods. The shock when he realises it is his own 17-year-old-daughter, Lotte, having sex with a black man, puts him completely off balance. How can he, Jarle, an outspoken anti-racist, free-thinking intellectual deal with this sight?

And the night has only just begun. What was meant to be a joyful summer’s night and Jarle’s grand breakthrough as a music journalist soon develops into a wild race through the streets of Oslo where Jarle fights against his own unexpected – and to himself totally unacceptable, but no less real - racist feelings and realises he has to win back his daughter’s trust at any price. At the same time, his old friend Helge has an existential crisis and needs his friendship more than ever. Realising his love for the people around him is stronger than all his ambitions and rationalisations; Jarle is thrown into a night that will mark his life forever.

In a fast paced, tight and heart-wrenching novel, Renberg takes the reader on a journey to the most private and embarrassing corners of a young man’s mind, and shows us how a single man’s outlook on life can change dramatically in only a few hours.

Pixley Mapogo is the fourth book about Jarle Klepp.

Praise for Pixley Mapogo:

“Captivating … a breathless, tight, energetic – to put it shortly: renbergian – melodrama … He is great at speed, at energy and drive and suspense and surprises. A skillful and stylish writer … Very good, the Renberg fans definitely get what they crave”
(Dagsavisen)

“Renberg on great form … a writer of rare talent. His ability to turn a phrase and his fantastic sense of rhythm are impressive”
(Dagbladet)

“he maintains the speed, the form and the fireworks this time too … with astonishing power and energy, and not least with persuasive credibility, Tore Renberg succeeds in recreating the mental confusion and paralysis that knocks Jarle Klepp off his feet this fateful night … The writing and the psychological insight are refreshing, interesting and captivating … a gift to all those who have come to look at Jarle Klepp as a close friend”
(Tønsberg Blad)

“powerful intensity … the direct prose and the narrative thrust is engaing … a powerfully written book that is hard to put down … lots of humour"
(Vårt land)

“Tore Renberg writes well … entertaining … gripping”
(Morgenbladet)

“The characteristic humour, the character portraits and the elegant use of images also help, in this story, which is both painful and uncomfortable – maybe it says more about us than we are capable of admitting”
(Bergensavisa)

First published: 2009, Forlaget Oktober

Tore Renberg: Biography and bibliography

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