Why am I passionate about this?
I love humorous tales with quirky characters who find themselves in bizarre situations, especially in foreign countries. This mirrors my own experience of the world! After Brown University, I found myself teaching rowdy Egyptian girls; I resided in a converted classroom in Istanbul; and I was tamed by an eighty-year-old Spanish nun at a girls’ school in Tokyo. In my late thirties, I dropped my anchor in Lattakia, Syria, only to be tailed by the Syrian secret police. Like the character in my novel, Confessions of a Knight Errant, I returned to Cairo from Almeria, Spain where I was on a writers’ residency on January 28th, the Friday of Rage, of the Egyptian uprising, 2011.
Gretchen's book list on rambunctious adventure tales
Why did Gretchen love this book?
We read The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden for my book club, but even more outlandish is The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared.
I wish I had written it! It is completely far-fetched and reads like a wacky Ian Fleming novel. If you are into quirky and wacky, you will love this novel. To avoid his hundredth birthday party, Allen Karlsson climbs out of the window of a nursing home and walks to the bus station. There, he takes care of a suitcase for a fellow passenger, which turns out to be full of drug money.
He is then chased by a gang, as well as the police. This adventure is right in keeping with the rest of his life. He was a weapons expert who worked in Spain during the civil war, China, and Russia. A colorful character, he met some…
2 authors picked The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A larger-than-life old man with a fondness for vodka goes on an unexpected adventure in this whimsical novel -- perfect for fans of Forrest Gump and A Man Called Ove.
The international publishing sensation -- more than six million copies sold worldwide!
A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert) decides it's not too late to start over . . .
After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one…