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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English
Weblink
http://www.thomsatterlee.com/

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Thom Satterlee

Notable book and a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Award - part literary mystery, part philosophical exploration, and part witty takedown of academic and social pretentions. Set in Copenhagen, just months before the bicentennial birthday of Søren Kierkegaard.
When Søren Kierkegaard's writing desk spills a manuscript of poems just months before his 200th birthday, many conclude that it must be a lost work by the famous philosopher—but Head of Fraudulent Affairs, Rolf Poulsen, isn't so sure. Mette Rasmussen, Director of the Søren Kierkegaard Institute, must persuade two feuding scholars to set aside their differences and cooperate in the international celebration she is planning. Everything starts to go wrong, however, when the philosopher's writing desk is moved to the site of the main display and gets caught up in a possible bomb threat that shuts down the city and brings in the Danish Bomb Squad. No explosives are found, but the desk contains a previously unknown manuscript of poems supposedly written by Kierkegaard—and one of the feuding scholars has apparently hanged himself. Thomas Satterlee is the recipient of the American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prize, a National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, and several Pushcart Prize nominations. He has published two collections of Danish poetry in translation and a collection of original poetry. Burning Wyclif was a 2007 American Library Association

Comments

“Daniel Peters is an American living in Copenhagen. He works in the Kierkegaard Research Center as a translator and suffers from Asperger's. When his boss (and former fiancée) is murdered soon after the discovery of a new Kierkegaard manuscript–a collection of poetry believed by some to be a forgery–Daniel is a prime suspect. His condition makes it difficult for him to tolerate changes to his routine or interpret people's behavior, but he is drawn into the mystery despite himself and must work with the police to uncover the truth. Satterlee clearly is familiar with Copenhagen and Kierkegaard, and this knowledge grounds the story and lends it realism. This is a deftly crafted mystery that will leave readers curious and surprised, as well as empathetic to Daniel, whose Asperger's is portrayed realistically.”

Mystery Guild (Christine Zika)

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