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Marginalia: Fredrik Backman On Ove, Mental Health, And 'Anxious People'

Linne?a Jonasson Bernholm
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Fredrik Backman, author of "Anxious People"

Why did I ask Fredrik Backman how to pronounce Ove? Well, Ove is the title character his bestselling novel, A Man Called Ove

Although many American’s—myself included—do not know how to pronounce his name, that didn’t stop us from loving the book and reading everything else Backman has written.

His latest release in the United States is a novel titled Anxious People, in which a failed bank robber holds a group of strangers hostage at an apartment open house. We spoke on the day Anxious People made it to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and we spoke about the book, his work in general, and mental health.

Here’s our conversation:
 

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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is published by Atria Books.

Marginalia was produced at KMUW Wichita. If you like this podcast, please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts.

Engineers: Mark Statzer and Torin Andersen
Editor: Lu Anne Stephens
Producer: Beth Golay

Follow Beth Golay on Twitter @BethGolay.

Beth Golay is KMUW's Director of Marketing and Digital Content. She is the host of the KMUW podcast Marginalia, co-host with Suzanne Perez of the Books & Whatnot podcast, creator of the podcast You're Saying It Wrong, creator of KMUW's daily news podcast Wichita's Early Edition, and NPR StoryLab Workshop team member on the award-winning podcast My Fellow Kansans.