Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Stieg Larsson: Best selling author

Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer and journalist. Prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in November 2004 he finished three detective novels in his trilogy "The Millenium-series" which were published posthumously; "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest". Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 countries (spring of 2010), and he was the second bestselling author in the world 2008.


Before his career as a writer, Larsson was mostly known for his struggle against racism and right-wing extremism. Starting in the late 1970's, he combined his work as a graphic designer with holding lectures on right-wing extremism for the Scotland Yard.


During the following years he became an expert on the subject and has held many lectures as well as written many novels on the subject. In 1995, when 8 persons were killed by neo-Nazis I Sweden, he was the main force behind the founding of the Expo-foundation, a group intended on exposing neo-Nazi activity in Sweden. From 1999 and on, he was appointed chief editor of the magazine Expo.


During the last 15 years of his life, he and his life companion Eva Gabrielsson lived under constant threat from right-wing violence. Read more ... 

*Note: I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was super intense, mesmerizing and graphic. It is not for the faint of heart. I really enjoyed it, as murder mysteries are one of my favorite genres... and this was a good one. I'm on to the next book of the trilogy: The Girl who Played with Fire.








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5 comments:

  1. What a brave soul! So sad he died so prematurely.

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  2. Yeah, he was a wonderful writer. I'm just starting on the second book of his trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire. Thanks for the comment.

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  3. Great post! I didn't know that many details about Larsson's past. I did find out some interesting legal facts that relate to Larsson and his family according to Swedish Law. I'm actually posting about the trilogy tomorrow, so it's so amazing that I came across this post just now!

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  4. Biaa, Brilliant writer...Larrson. Thanks for the info. Wondered if you would be interested is guest-posting your piece on the trilogy on my site...I would love to post it here.

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  5. Have read the first two books in the trilogy. I really liked the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but did not like the second one at all. I would not recommend The girl who played with fire. It was one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Of course, if you like "depressing", have at it! Gonna read the third one and will let you know what I think.

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