The most recent addition to my website is Arnon Grunberg‘s Arnon Grunberg: Blauwe maandagen (Blue Mondays). This was Grunberg’s first novel, written for a bet and selling 70,000 copies in the Netherlands. Frankly, it did not really appeal to me. It is an autobiographical novel, telling of his life while at high school and then, once he had been kicked out of high school, afterwards. His story is told in a matter-of-fact life way. For example, his relationship with his girlfriend, Rosie, and then, when she dumps him, with various prostitutes is told with all the passion and excitement of a dead haddock. He is something of a rebel at high school but his rebellion consists more of playing truant, often to spend time with Rosie, rather than any interesting, overt act of rebellion. After high school, it is a succession of boring jobs, culminating in working as a male escort (where the book ends) and visiting prostitutes. If you like books told in a straightforward manner about high school dropouts, this may be for you, otherwise you would be advised to pass.