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Politiken
By Tine Maria Winther, Politiken book editor, Reykjavik

In the three storey bookshop on Laugavegur, the main street of Reykjavik "Fathers big secret" is ready for Christmas season.

The children's book about siblings whose father is a cannibal is number eight on the bestseller list, and author Thorarinn Leifsson is quite happy, he says as he fetches me from the entrance of the book store in his green Nissan Micra.

The interview was almost cancelled, first the author had Swine flu, then he got a blod clot in his leg.

"How is the leg? I enquire as i take a seat in the Micra.
"How do you know about that?", he replies.
"I have been in iceland since last night …".
"I see", he replies. "News travel fast up here."

PolitikenThórarinn Leifsson gained impressive coverage in the Danish newspaper Politiken in the middle of december 2009 on account of his children's book Leyndarmálið hans pabba (Father's Big Secret): not only was there a two-page interview in the paper's literary supplement, but Leifsson's drawings also graced the front pages of both the main paper and the literary supplement.

Fathers big secrets publishing rights have been acquired by Idun in Finland. The book is being translated by Päivi Kumpulaine. This is the third foreign language publication in a little less than two years since the Icelandic original came out.

Hallucinant firecracker, pure icelandic madness, amusing read, well done, incredibly funny …

These are but a few examples from the numerous good reviews since Fathers Big Secret was released in Denmark on 28th may this spring.

Politiken, Denmark's by far most important cultural newspaper brought a review by Steffen Larsen, a well known critic.

Yesterday, on may 28th 2009, the infamous Cannibal children's book, Father’s Big Secret, was published by forlaget Torgard in Copenhagen. The danish translation of Fars store hemmelighed, is by Birgir Thor Møller.

Father’s Big Secret was met with great reviews already on it’s first day in Danish bookstores. The children's books website Fortællingen.dk praises it and begs for more:

"... in other words; Leifsson allows himself to wrap a good deal of serious themes in to wild entertainment without being to serious. He does not preach or become boring (…).

From the sufferings of a Cannibal: New, amusing Theatrium play with excelent actors.

Foto: Hannes FuhrmannParents are embarrassing, all children think. But the father of Sidda and Jonas is not only different - he carries a dark secret with him, for his family to keep. The family father in ”Fathers big secret“ from the book of the same name by Icelandic Thorarinn Leifsson is not normal at all, he is a Cannibal.During the day he snores on the family sofa (It is far to dangerous for his fellow men to let him go to work), at night he rambles through the the city, craving for prey. How long can this go on? What if dad decides to attack his own family? Who is really to be protected from whom?

Thorarinn Leifsson will be at the Leipziger Book Fair to promote the German publication of Fathers Big Secret.
The German name of the book is Papas Geheimnis. He will catch the train to Leipzig on the morning of Friday the 13th. Thorarinn can be reached by mobile +354 6593603 or by email to totil@totil.com.

The program is more or less as follows.

Tuesday the 10th
Theatrium, Leipzig, Sachsen 04205
10:00 AM - Papas Geheimnis - PREMIERE
Reading from the book on stage by local actors.
Thorarinn will be in Berlin.

Friday the 13th
Nordic Forum - at the Fair
13.30-14.00 Hall 4, Stand C304
Hartmut Mittelstädt (Translator), Thorarinn Leifsson (Author)

Program for young readers
17:30 - 18:00 Lesebude 1, Hall 2, Stand G305 / H314
Hartmut Mittelstädt (Translator), Thorarinn Leifsson (Author)

naTo on Friday - Outside the fair, some kind of pub.
20.15-20.45 Thorarinn Leifsson with Audur Jonsdottir as guest.
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46, 04275 Leipzig - www.nato-leipzig.de

The german newspaper Sozialistische Tageszeitung reviewed Fathers Big Secret
in a special Frankfurt Book Fair supplement. The book will be on sale in Germany next week.
Among other things, the review says that the book is unique, a book like this has never been written before, this an unbelievable an disgusting horror tale.

Now when the book launch at Leipziger Kinderbuchverlag in Germany is only a few days away and orders from German speaking web-shops have started to come in, the terrible news of yet another
publisher falling prey to the cannibal come to us. Forlaget Torgard has bought the rights to Father's Big Secret to be published in Denmark next year.

DanceLeipziger Kinderbuchverlag has bought the rights to Father's Big Secret for the German speaking countries. The book has already been translated to German by Doctor Hartmut Mittelstädt in Greifswald and will be in the German bookstores this autumn.