Life Is Like a Bottle of Vodka!

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

by

 

Jonas Jonasson

This book is an international best seller and I put off reading it because I expected some cross between The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sachs) and Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom).  It was neither.

Allan Karlsson, the 100 year old man, is the ultimate opportunist in the very best sense of the word.  He is a simple man, open to everything life puts in front of him.  Like other reviewers, I could not help thinking of Forrest Gump as I read of his encounters with virtually every leader of the late 20th century including Truman, Stalin, Mao, Nixon, and others.

Told in flashbacks, his adventures take him around the globe from Paris to Tibet to the Philippines.  Intertwined with all that, his current adventure begins with his leap out the window followed by the theft of a gangster's suitcase full of money.  He hooks up with a hot dog vendor, makes friends with an elephant and...well, you have to read the book.

This is a witty, funny romp that is a joy to read.  Once you start, you really can't put it down.  Do yourself a favor and start today!