The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared

The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

You just got to buy something with that title, haven't you? My friend recommended it to me. Swede Allan Karlsson climbs out of the window of his old folks' home to escape his 100th birthday party. He gets to the bus station, buys a ticket to somewhere random, and accidently steals a suitcase containing a large amount of money from a thug. The thug, of course, follows him on the next bus. And thus begin Allan's adventures.

Alternating chapters give Allan's back story. At 100 years old you'd expect him to have a lot of back story, but maybe not quite this much. In Forrest Gump style, he seems to have been present at many pivotal moments in history. He helped invent the Atom Bomb in 1940s US. Then he gave the secret away to the Soviets. He befriended several US presidents, had a young Kim Jong Il sit crying on his lap, and had a large amount of money given to him by Mao Tse-tung. As you do.

It's the most quirky of all quirky books. Told in a detached, amused voice, and maybe takes a little while to get used to the style, but in the end I couldn't put it down. Loved it. So unusual!