Sign-In
Cart
Big in Sweden
Paperback
Publisher Price: $18.99
ISBN13: 9780063312760
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: Jul 1 2025
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.55
Height: 0.70 Width: 5.20 Depth: 7.90
Language: English
Sally Franson is a world class entertainer. She can finesse a serio-comic moment in a way that leaves you catching your breath. Deft and delicious, this book is a flat out delight machine. A heart opener, a page turner, and a true 'originell!' I laughed out loud, I ugly cried, and I never, ever wanted it to end. -- Meg Ryan, actor, writer, director
A charming, wise, and laugh-out-loud funny romantic comedy following an American woman competing on a Swedish reality show in an attempt to discover her roots.
Paulie Johansson has never put much stock in the idea of family: she has her long-term boyfriend Declan and beloved best friend Jemma, and that's more than enough for her. Yet one night on a lark, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig, a show on Swedish television where Swedish-Americans compete to win the ultimate prize: a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Much to her shock, her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, and against Declan's advice Paulie decides to go for it.
Armed with her Polaroid camera, a beat-up copy of Pippi Longstocking, and an unquenchable sense of possibility, Paulie hops on a plane to Sweden and launches into the contest with seven other Americans, all under the watchful eye of a camera crew. At first, Paulie is certain that she and her competitors have nothing in common besides their passports and views their bloodthirsty ambitions with suspicion. Yet amid the increasingly absurd challenges--rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, battling through obstacle courses, competing in a pickled herring eating contest--Paulie finds herself rethinking her snap judgments and discovering an unexpected found family with her fellow countrymen, while her growing attachment to her Swedish roots increases her resolve to win the competition herself.
Grappling with long-held notions of family, friendship, and love--not to mention the slow burn romance with the distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman who's been assigned to follow her around--Paulie starts to reconsider her past and rethink what she wants for the future. This charming fish-out-of-water tale filled with warmth, optimism, and wit, Big in Sweden is at its heart a love story: love for family, friends, country, and--most importantly--oneself.
If you devoured Pippi Longstocking as a kid, you will not be able to turn away from Big in Sweden. Reading this hilarious, heartfelt book was even more fun than watching reality television. I absolutely loved it! -- Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Franson, Sally
Also in
General Fiction
Elizabeth Spencer: Novels & Stories (Loa #344): The Voice at the Back Door / The Light in the Piazza / Knights and Dragons / Stories
Spencer, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Anniversaries, Volume 2: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl, April 1968-August 1968
Johnson, Uwe
Paperback
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts
Plath, Sylvia
Paperback
Philip Roth: Novels 1967-1972 (Loa #158): When She Was Good / Portnoy's Complaint / Our Gang / The Breast
Roth, Philip
Hardcover
Selected Writings: Robert Musil: Young Torless, Three Women, the Perfecting of a Love, and Other Writings
Agee, Joel
Musil, Robert
Paperback