Peter Berlin left his native Sweden the day after graduating from university, and has always looked back since. He maintains that you have to go abroad to view your country in perspective, for how can one size up a whale from within? Of course Sweden is not a whale but a slightly fermented herring, usually delectable but sometimes hard to swallow.His Canadian wife, a textile artist, has given him a wider focus on Sweden. When there she roams the forests in search of mushrooms for dyeing wool and places each day's harvest on the hotel room radiator to dry overnight, slowly asphyxiating her husband in the process. But there is life in the author yet. After 25 years in the satellite and rocket business, he took early retirement to become a full-time writer. Instead, he found himself re-employed to gather intelligence at Siberian and Kazakh space centres previously unknown to the West. He also gives seminars in Cross-Cultural Awareness during which he offers living proof that your cultural luggage stays with you for life. In conformance with their theory that if you marry a foreigner you should live in a third country (because you both become expatriates with all the attendant joys and sorrows), the Berlins have lived in Seattle, The Hague, Paris, Toulouse, Darmstadt, London and Moscow.
'Advantages: funny funny funny. Disadvantages: too short. I first came across this range of books shortly after I had moved in with my now husband and was slowly getting used to his strange Swedish ways. Well they were strange to me anyway and there were so many things that I didn't understand about the culture. We went to one of his Swedish friends for a dinner party and the host himself found it hilarious as my husband humorously explained things that I found just weird. The host then left the room, came back in and passed me a book entitled 'The Xenophobe's guide to the Swedes'. I took it home and began to read it, I was engulfed in laughter and to make it even better my husband vouched that most of it was true. Wow!' -- Review from 'kirlykird' 'The most important book you can get your hands on if you want to understand the Swedish persona. Why spend years trying to figure out their complicated ritual of toasting (skal!)? Ex-patriot Peter Berlin sells out his fellow Swedes' best kept secrets. We definitely need the edge.' -- Reviewer from Sweden 'Absolutely hilarious! I picked up this book because I will be going to Sweden and wanted to learn more about the Swedes' foibles and traits. Apart from knowing some Swedes on a business level, I read several books dealing with Swedish history, mentality, and culture. This one adds to putting more pieces together and confirms my own experiences. It is ever so enjoyable to read since it is packed with humour and irony. I couldn't put it aside although I had to at times simply because it had me in stitches. But rest assured, this book won't put you off Sweden or the Swedes. The underlying fondness the author has for his native country is still discernible. Can't wait to get my hands on the Xenophobe's guide to the Germans...' -- Reviewer from Hamburg, Germany 'I now know why there are 400 words describing a quizzical expression and only one word for laughter, which is the same as the ones for funny and joke. Seriously (56 words), this is an amusing and irreverent trawl through the Swedish psyche. From the land that gave us ABBA, Ikea & Wallander, I'm really surprised that the Swedish seem to be so uptight about themselves. Makes for entertaining reading though. Thoroughly recommend it.' -- Reviewer from Yorkshire, UK
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