Max, Mischa und die Tet-Offensive

Johan Harstad's critically acclaimed novel is finally available in paperback: Max Hansen grows up in Norway. More specifically, in Stavanger in the 1980s, where fathers disappear for months to work on oil rigs while children play Vietnam War in the fairy tale forest. An idyll—until Max's family emigrates to the USA. While his father now flies around the world from Long Island and is rarely home, threatening the marriage of his parents, Max and his equally lonely mother grow closer. Until Mordecai arrives, who initially becomes Max's best friend and later a well-known actor. He also introduces Max to Mischa, a visual artist seven years his senior. Max and Mischa fall in love. She is the one who encourages Max to search for his mysterious uncle, a Vietnam War veteran with whom his father severed ties long ago. They find him in the Apthorp Building in Manhattan and soon move in with him. The unconventional shared living arrangement, where everyone treats each other with generosity and understanding, becomes the epicenter of the lives of Max, Mischa, Mordecai, and Uncle Owen. For a moment, it seems that Max has found a home. "Max, Mischa, and the Tet Offensive" is a global novel about how home is primarily within us and family is a matter of interpretation. Above all, Johan Harstad tells a story about attitude, sincerity, friendship, and girls who resemble actress Shelley Duvall—and how deeply one can love them.