(This post comes to us from Taru Spiegel, reference specialist in the European Division, which is cosponsoring the event along with the Poetry and Literature Center.)
Karl Ove Knausgård
What does a serious, award-winning author do when he is chosen “sexiest man of the year” by a leading women’s magazine? (He received the accolades from ELLE Norway in 2010.) According to various newspaper accounts, the Norwegian best-seller Karl Ove Knausgård said a few bad words.
Knausgård won instant critical praise for his earliest books in 1998 and 2004. He acquired major international fame with his six-volume memoirs “My Struggle,” published in Norway between 2009 and 2011. The autobiography has generated much public discussion concerning the ethics of Knausgård’s personal observations about friends and family members, including his alcoholic father and relations with his former wife. However, he is also mercilessly candid when it comes to himself.
Knausgård will appear at the Library of Congress on Wednesday, May 2, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss and sign book one of “My Struggle,” now available in English. The event will be held in Madison Hall, located on the first floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC. Reservations are required; contact (202) 707-5395 or poetry@loc.gov.
Oh, and by the way, after the first shock wore off, Knausgård treated his superstardom with a sense of humor – which he has in considerable amounts.