The Almost Nearly Perfect People - The Truth about the Nordic Miracle
Author(s): Michael Booth
The whole world wants to learn the secrets of Nordic exceptionalism: Why are the Danes the happiest people in the world, despite having the highest taxes? If the Finns really have the best education system, how come they still think all Swedish men are gay? Are the Icelanders really feral? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastical oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians, on and off, for over ten years, perplexed by their many strange paradoxes and character traits and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic that has engulfed the rest of the world, whether it be for their food, television, social systems or chunky knitwear. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterised by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.
Product Information
There is no Danish word for 'Please'. 54% of Icelanders believe in the existence of elves. At various times during WWII the Finns fought the Russians, the Nazis and the Allies.
"A lively and endearing portrait of our friends in the north." -- Mariella Frostrup Guardian "An enjoyable, funny romp through the region...[Booth's] enthusiasm is contagious." Telegraph "Every page contains at least one extraordinary fact about one or other of the Nordic countries." -- Craig Brown Mail on Sunday "A welcome rejoinder to those who cling to the idea of the Nordic region as a promised land...the substance, more often than not, is spot on." Financial Times "Booth is an assiduous excavator of entertaining facts." -- Damian Whitworth The Times
Michael Booth is a journalist and food writer who contributes regularly to numerous British and foreign magazines, including Conde Nast Traveller and Monocle, and has written for all of the UK's broadsheet newspapers. He is the author of four works of non-fiction, including Eat, Pray, Eat, Just as Well I'm Leaving, nominated for the Irish Times first writers award, Sacre Cordon Bleu, which was a BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week', and Sushi and Beyond, which won the Guild of Food Writers Kate Whiteman Award for the best book on food and travel in 2010.
General Fields
- :
- : Random House
- : Jonathan Cape
- : 0.562
- : 01 January 2014
- : 234mm X 153mm
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 January 2014
- : books
Special Fields
- : Michael Booth
- : Paperback
- : 914.804712
- : very good
- : 416