“Per Petterson is Norwegian prose magic from the top shelf, that much is clear from the very first page … From beginning to end, My Abruzzo is a sprawlingly lively and energetic and extremely charming diary or journal, where the art of finding great truth in small details is taken to the highest level”
5/6 stars, Jørgen Johansen, Berlingske, Denmark
«A work of great human and literary truth value … My Abruzzo is a project that was originally conceived as a helping hand from the author to himself. But it takes on a form and a life of its own, through the writing, as the words flow out on the paper. As a result, My Abruzzo stands there as an enormously generous gesture. A thoroughly illogical and unexpected step for a writer who only grasped for the journal in desperation but who ended up adding another dimension, a work which is true in another way, to his oeuvre.”
5/6 stars, Kim Skotte, Politiken, Denmark
«My Abruzzo only consists of half a year of diary entries, but it contains the essence of an entire life … Luckily My Abruzzo is tremendous. And certain passages even reminds you so much of a proper Per Petterson novel that it’s impossible to see the difference. Life and work merge into one”
5/6 stars, Henriette Bacher Lind, Jyllands-Posten, Denmark
«Through diary entries about ordinary, small everyday life at the farm, a life story full of both outer and inner drama rises. Is there anything more interesting than seeing a human being completely unfolded? Or at least the self-image of a writer unfolded? … it’s recognizable and human, even though his life doesn’t look much like your own”
Pernille Steensgaard, Weekendavisen, Denmark
“Part diary, part autobiography. My Abruzzo offers an unfiltered view into the popular Norwegian writer’s thoughts about life, the world and the story that forms the foundation of his personality and writing. Isolated in his cabin in the Norwegian wilderness, he drags himself down to his “writer’s workshop” every morning, where through burgeoning anxiety and mild depression he squeezes his thoughts out and onto the paper. What is the temperature? What has he read this morning? What does he need to take care of at the farm today? What is the purpose of my existence? Each word is a great effort. That much is obvious. But it’s also enormously captivating … The border between the fictitious Per and the real Per is dissolved. We’re left with the genuine Per, a writer balancing on the edge of the abyss, with his eyes fixed on a bright horizon”
Rune Christiansen, Litteratursiden.dk, Denmark
“Spellbinding. Petterson’s desperate diary is written with such an intense, almost manic presence that I’m completely floored. It doesn’t happen often, perhaps only two or three times a year, that I read a book so overwhelmingly good that I almost tremble while I read … In addition to the quite fantastic (self-)portrait of a writer, this is a literary journal … He recounts books, episodes, the lives of authors and conversations he has had with writers with casually original ease and the astonishing images … It’s not often you read something that feels so unembarrassingly private, and at the same time so pared to the bone, so clean-cut, vital, desperate and drily humorous”
6/6 stars, Cathrine Krøger, Dagbladet
“[Petterson] writes with furious energy and power … With this book, Petterson confirms that he is a true writer and a real artist … he writes just as well as we know he can. At his best, the prose sparkles. If My Abruzzo heralds a new path for Petterson as a writer, there is every reason to look forward to what’s in store”
Sindre Hovdenakk, VG
“Petterson writes with exemplary clarity about the personal and literary questions that occupy his thoughts at any given time … One huge strength in this book is how it places the writer in the midst of the manual labour that dominates life on a small farm … Through the typically fragmentary journal form, Petterson has managed to convey significant pieces of his own life – there is a lot here he has never spoken of in public before – and given us wonderful glimpses into his thoughts on literature … The author has once again captured a life in writing, this time his own”
Alf Kjetil Walgermo, Vårt Land
“There is lots to look forward to here. Per Petterson opens up his own very intense inner and outer life in a new book … It’s always a pleasure to read Per Petterson. And especially this personal document of more than 400 pages. At times it feels like sitting at the other end of the table, listening to the author talk with enthusiasm. About his favourite writers, for example … the form itself seems to be tailormade for Per Petterson and his inviting, casual style. It is his enthusiasm for and excitement about other people and books that guides the ‘Journal’ and the joy of reading”
Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen
“Magnificent … Everytime his diary seems to get lost in little things, something significant happens. Petterson lifts himself up and gives the journal temperature, although not in the way his Swedish colleague Lars Norén became so famous for doing in his four diaries. Petterson doesn’t commit a single character assassination, he introduces motives with existential depth … He shows vulnerability, comes across as honest, and seems to think that most people are better than him. And it’s quite lovely whenever Per Petterson writes about his partner through 30 years”
Ingunn Økland, Aftenposten
