Expelled from school and estranged from his father, a cynical young man wanders the streets of Amsterdam, spending his remaining funds on prostitutes and surviving on the strength of his wit and humor. A first novel.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
A precocious new wunderkind, Grunberg first published this novel in the Netherlands when he was only 22 years old, and it immediately garnered comparisons to Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus. The comparison is deserved. Grunberg displays flashes of Roth's talent and wit, updated for a '90s audience. Our hero is a disenfranchised young slacker, prowling the seamy and sleazy back alleys of Amsterdam's red-light district, finding redemption in his comic take on life's saddest fringes.
From Publishers Weekly
"People are as disposable as plastic bags," muses the young protagonist of this bleak and presumably autobiographical first novel, a bestseller in the Netherlands after its 1994 publication. The narrator, who shares the author's full name, is Jewish, a young man growing up in Amsterdam. His mother and father constantly rip into each other and indulge in poisonous dinner exchanges about his severe acne problem. Arnon is fortunate to have a girlfriend with whom to roam the city streets, but his indifference-he lets her letters and phone calls go unanswered-alienates her. Arnon's life is a study in grimness. He drops out of school and takes a series of office jobs that lead him nowhere. His father winds up a hapless invalid while his mother grows shriller and shriller. Finally, in his bored loneliness, Arnon fills up his days with a parade of prostitutes from the escort services and whorehouses of Amsterdam's red-light district. On occasion, Grunberg displays a sharp black wit that relieves his novel's gray ponderousness-but not nearly often enough.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blue Monday ain't blue at all,
By Michael R. Flick "Michael R. Flick, M.D., J.D." (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Blue Mondays (Hardcover)
Better-than-new book by one of the greats of Dutch literature from a seller who offers a better price than ever seen anywhere, including Amazon, when the book was in print. Highly recommended.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bijbelse Verhalen Voor Jonge Kinderen,
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue Mondays (Hardcover)
Amazon.com suggests that readers of Arnon Grunberg's novel would also enjoy "Bible Stories for Young Children". Mr. Grunberg would no doubt enjoy that irony. Mr. Grunberg's bildungsromane about growing up in A'dam as a disaffected youth is mildly entertaining at times. In his attempt to shock us with his character's utter inability to care, his complete lack of direction and connection, however, one quickly looses interest. This is no "Goodbye Columbus" or "Catcher in the Rye" as the jacket copy writers claim.
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The wonder-author of the Netherlands speaks,
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue Mondays (Hardcover)
Arnon Grunberg, 28 years old, has written a lot of columns in the newspaper "NRC Dagblad". He quit school when he was 16 for cutting classes. This amazing man, who designed a writing style which no writer has done before, debuted with "Blue Mondays". This book is definitely a gold mine. The writing style is unique, and you speed through the book, for Grunberg's sentences have this effect on the reader. This I know from the fact that I've read his other 3 books (not yet translated in English). It is very pleasent to read. I quote "Grunberg goes to the hookers a few times, and suddenly he's a famous author". The fact that he went to the hookers, just makes sure you get a strong impression on how the writer thinks, for he describes these experiences in great detail. Still, until the last part of the story, you are again and again amazed on his true, or possible made up, memories. An astonishing book from an amazing writer. A true recommendation.
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