Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller

by Guðbergur Bergsson, Lytton Smith (Translation)

A retired, senile bank clerk confined to his basement apartment, Tómas Jónsson decides that, since memoirs are all the rage, he’s going to write his own—a sure bestseller—that will also right the wrongs of contemporary Icelandic society. Egoistic, cranky, and digressive, Tómas blasts away while relating pick-up techniques, meditations on chamber pot use, ways to assign monetary value to noise pollution, and much more. His rants parody and subvert the idea of the memoir—something that’s as relevant today in our memoir-obsessed society as it was when the novel was first published.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Adult Fiction, Novels

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Guðbergur qualified as a teacher from the Iceland University of Education in 1955, went to Spain for further studies and graduated in Spanish, Literature and Art History from the University of Barcelona in 1958. Since then he has spent much of his time in Spain.
His first books, the novel Músin sem læðist (The Mouse That Creeps) and the poetry collection Endurtekin orð (Repeated Words), appeared in 1961. Since then he has published numerous books of various kinds: short stories, over 20 novels, children's books, autobiographical novels and more. He has also written articles about literature, art, and social issues for newspapers and magazines.
Guðbergur Bergsson is one of Iceland's most prolific translators from Spanish and has thus played an important part in introducing Spanish and Latin-American authors in Iceland. His own books have been translated into several languages and the novel Svanurinn (The Swan) has received critical acclaim in many countries. Guðbergur received the Nordic Prize from the Swedish Academy in 2004.