Already celebrated far beyond his native Iceland, the novels of Sjon arrive on waves of praise from writers, critics, and readers worldwide. Sjon has won countless international awards and earned ringing comparisons to Borges, Calvino, and Iceland's other literary superstar, the Nobel Prize winner Halldor Laxness. The Whispering Muse is his masterpiece so far.
The year is 1949 and Valdimar Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the influence of fish consumption on Nordic civilization, has had the extraordinary good fortune to be invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its way to the Black Sea. Among the crew is the mythical hero Caeneus, disguised as the second mate. Every evening after dinner he entrances his fellow travelers with the tale of how he sailed with the fabled vessel the Argo on its quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
What unfolds is a slender but masterful, brilliant, and always entertaining novel that ranges deftly from the comic to the mythic as it weaves together tales of antiquity with the modern world in a voice so singular as to seem possessed.
Industry Reviews
"The Whispering Muse is a quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly translated, lovingly polished gem of a novel." --David Mitchell
"An extraordinary, powerful fable--a marvel." --Alberto Manguel
"Sj�n is the trickster that makes the world, and he is achingly brilliant." --Junot D�az
"When I need something epic and lyrical I call upon Sj�n." --Bj�rk
"Sj�n's writing [is] full of brilliant details, surprises and delights . . . [He is] an extraordinary and original writer." --A. S. Byatt, The Guardian "The Whispering Muse "is a quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly translated, lovingly polished gem of a novel. "David Mitchell"
An extraordinary, powerful fable--a marvel. "Alberto Manguel"
Sjon is the trickster that makes the world, and he is achingly brilliant. "Junot Diaz"
When I need something epic and lyrical I call upon Sjon. "Bjork"
Sjon's writing [is] full of brilliant details, surprises and delights . . . [He is] an extraordinary and original writer. "A. S. Byatt, The Guardian"" ""The Whispering Muse "is a quirky, melodic, ticklish, seamlessly translated, lovingly polished gem of a novel." --David Mitchell
"An extraordinary, powerful fable--a marvel." --Alberto Manguel
"Sjon is the trickster that makes the world, and he is achingly brilliant." --Junot Diaz
"When I need something epic and lyrical I call upon Sjon." --Bjork
"Sjon's writing [is] full of brilliant details, surprises and delights . . . [He is] an extraordinary and original writer." --A. S. Byatt, "The Guardian" Praise for Sjon
"Essential reading." --Michel Faber
"An extraordinary and original writer." --A. S. Byatt
"Sjon is the trickster that makes the world, and he is achingly brilliant." --Junot Diaz