I'm finishing up volume 5 soon and in addition to marttt's description of how well it's written, I think I enjoy it simply because it resonates so deeply with my own experiences. Loss, self harm, substance abuse, complex relationships with family, making mistakes and having to live with them, talking about music, making friends and love, aimlessness. It's an existentially entertaining read for me, the stuff of life as I know it. He derives insights from even banal events. And still, plenty of surprises, shocks and laughs. It's all presented with clarity and bravery.

I'm looking forward to reading some of his fiction–I'm interested to see what it's like to read the work of someone I already feel like I know so much about. Received The Morning Star as a gift this holiday season. I'm honestly a bit afraid it won't live up to what I've already read by him.

The original reason I picked up his autobiography was simply that I saw a book review about it and it filled a spot in a larger goal I have: to read a book by an author from every country. I hadn't read Norway yet, and I also was on an autobiography kick.