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Per Petterson Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Per Petterson
Photo: Torunn Nilsen

Per Petterson

How to pronounce Per Petterson: PEHR

Per Petterson Biography

Per Petterson, born in Oslo, Norway in 1952, worked for several years as an unskilled labourer, trained as a librarian, and worked as a bookseller, writer, and translator before publishing his first work, Aske i munnen, sand i skoa (Ash In His Mouth, Sand In His Shoe), a volume of short stories, in 1987. This book was proclaimed one of the decade's most sensational debuts.

Since then he has written a book of essays and several novels that have established his reputation as one of Norway's most significant fiction writers. These are Ekkoland (1989), Det er greit for meg (1992), To Siberia (1996), In the Wake (2000), Out Stealing Horses (2003), Månen over Porten (2004), and I Curse the River of Time (Jeg forbanner tidens elv) (2008 . For To Siberia, Petterson was nominated for the Nordic Council's Literary Award and nominated for The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. For In the Wake he received the prestigious Norwegian literary prize, Brageprisen, and the novel was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Out Stealing Horses was awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the UK, as well as both the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize and the Norwegian Critics' Award for best novel. In 2006, the novel was also named one of the 25 best Norwegian books the last 25 years by the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

Out Stealing Horses was on the Norwegian bestseller list for more than 70 weeks and has been translated into 50 different languages.



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Books by this Author

Books by Per Petterson at BookBrowse
Echoland jacket Men in My Situation jacket I Refuse jacket It's Fine By Me jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Per Petterson but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Niccolò Ammaniti

    Niccolò Ammaniti

    Niccolò Ammaniti was born in Rome in 1966. He is the author of three novels, as well as a collection of short stories. At thirty-four, he was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Viareggio-Repaci prize for I'm Not... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Out Stealing Horses

    Try:
    I'm Not Scared
    by Niccolò Ammaniti

  • Fredrik Backman

    Fredrik Backman

    Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called OveMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's SorryBritt-Marie Was HereBeartownUs Against You, and&#... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    I Refuse

    Try:
    Beartown
    by Fredrik Backman

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