4th Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2014
First published in the United States by Ecco in 2014
Originally published in Sweden as Analfabeten som kunde räkna by Piratforlaget in 2013
Copyright © Jonas Jonasson 2014
Jonas Jonasson asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work
‘Tonight I Can Write’, from Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda, translated by W. S. Merwin, translation copyright © 1969 by W. S. Merwin; used by permission of Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Random House. Pooh’s Little Instruction Book inspired by A. A. Milne © 1995 the Trustees of the Pooh Properties, original text and compilation of illustrations; used by permission of Egmont UK Ltd, and by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd. How to Cure a Fanatic by Amos Oz; used by permission of Vintage, a division of Random House.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Cover by Jonathan Pelham
Source ISBN: 9780007557905
Ebook Edition © April 2014 ISBN: 9780007557882
Version: 2018-06-18
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: On a girl in a shack and the man who posthumously helped her escape it
Chapter 2: On how everything went topsy-turvy in another part of the world
Chapter 3: On a strict sentence, a misunderstood country and three multifaceted girls from China
Chapter 4: On a Good Samaritan, a bicycle thief and a wife who smoked more and more
Chapter 5: On an anonymous letter, peace on earth and a hungry scorpion
Chapter 6: On Holger and Holger and a broken heart
Chapter 7: On a bomb that didn’t exist and an engineer who soon didn’t, either
Chapter 8: On a match that ended in a draw and an entrepreneur who didn’t get to live his life
Chapter 9: On a meeting, a mix-up and an unexpected reappearance
Chapter 10: On an unbribable prime minister and a desire to kidnap one’s king
Chapter 11: On how everything temporarily worked out for the best
Chapter 12: On the love of an atomic bomb and differential pricing
Chapter 13: On a happy reunion and the man who became his name
Chapter 14: On an unwelcome visitor and a sudden death
Chapter 15: On the murder of a dead man and on two frugal people
Chapter 16: On a surprised agent and a potato-farming countess
Chapter 17: On the dangers of having an exact copy of oneself
Chapter 18: On a temporarily successful newspaper and a prime minister who suddenly wanted a meeting
Chapter 19: On a gala banquet at the palace and contact with the other side
Chapter 20: On what kings do and do not do
Chapter 21: On a lost composure and a twin who shoots his brother
Chapter 22: On a final clean-up and breaking camp
Chapter 23: On an angry supreme commander and a beautifully singing woman