In an interview with PageToStageReviews.com Backman stated:
"I just tried to tell a story that I felt something about, and then I made my best to tell it as
honest and entertaining as possible. And then I gave it to my wife, and she laughed maybe
three times during the entire script, and I asked where she was in the story at the time and
she told me and I went back and tried to write more stuff like that. That's where the dedication
on the first page of the book comes from. "For Neda. It's always to make you laugh. Always.""
The author also told the story about the cat in the book. Apparently the cat didn't appear
in the first draft of the novel until Chapter 14, but a
"stubborn editor kept arguing that it should be the hero of the story, so in the end I changed
it and wrote the cat from chapter 2. It changed the whole dynamic of the book, really,
which I didn't really understand until the book was printed."
When asked to describe his typical writing day:
"I don't have routines. I have kids. And my wife has a real job with desks and PowerPoint
and pants and stuff, so I'm in charge of seeing the kids to and from kindergarten and half
the time they have colds and then we stay home and watch Frost a million times...I just write
when I'm allowed. But what I have discovered, to be honest, is that it's not really important to
set aside time for writing. It's more important to set aside time for thinking. Writing is fun, so
one way or another I always find time for that."
And a big Thank You to our book group members who have read A Man Called Ove
and returned it to the library for those on the waiting list. Last week 10 people were waiting and today only 4 remain. Thank you!!
And remember, there are still 2 Kindle Paperwhites (eBook readers) available for checkout at the
Circulation Desk. (And if you are not a Clarkston patron, you are eligible to borrow the
Kindle as a book group member.)
A Man Called Ove Book Discussion: November 3 @ 10 AM