We're Prisioners Of... Things.of Who We Are.

My Father Grew Up In Brooklyn, N.y., With My Grandparents. In Norwegian My Name Is Pronounced 'yoo' But My Father Used To Call Me 'joe.'

Everyone Has A Need To Do Penance. It's A Basic Need, Like Washing. It's About Harmony, An Absolutely Essential Inner Balance. It's The Balance We Call Morality.

Many Scandinavian Writers Who Had Made Their Name In Literary Fiction Felt They Wanted To Have A Go At The Crime Novel To Show They Could Compete With The Best. If Salman Rushdie Had Been Norwegian, He Would Definitely Have Written At Least One Thriller.

When I Finish A Book, I'm So Exhausted That I'm Sort Of Letting Myself Think That This Could Be The End.

When I Was A Teenager, My Father Went Bust. He Could Have Declared Himself Bankrupt, But He Was An Honourable Man And He Insisted On Paying Back All His Debts. That Almost Ruined The Family. I Was Aware That My Mother And Father Couldn't Control Things Anymore. I Guess I Was Afraid That We Would End Up On The Street.