Essays
May 19, 2010
I particularly love your dialogue, though I feel I should warn you that the people who translate your books into Swedish seriously demolish your work. My question: Is a Swedish character ever going to make it through one of your books alive? — Kim, Stockholm
Maybe not if he’s a book translator and if your report is correct. Actually, I hadn’t been aware that Swedes appear routinely in my books and meet a dreadful end. Perhaps my fictional Swede-killing is an unconscious response to my childhood experiences with a babysitter named Olga and her wicked sock puppet, Slash.
