About The Copenhagen Trilogy
“How does great literature―the Grade A, top-shelf stuff―announce itself to the reader? . . . I bring news of Tove Ditlevsen’s suite of memoirs with the kind of thrill and reluctance that tells me this must be a masterpiece . . . [The trilogy is] the product of a terrifying talent.”
―Parul Sehgal, The New York Times
“Romantic, spiritually macabre, and ultimately devastating . . . Like a number of dispassionate, poetic modernists―the writers Jean Rhys and Octavia Butler, say, or the visual artists Alice Neel and Diane Arbus―Ditlevsen was marked, wounded, by her own sharp intelligence . . . A wonderfully destabilizing writer, she admits to something that a more timid memoirist would never cop to: monstrous self-interest. By baring her bathos along with her genius, she makes us reflect on our own egotism.”
―Hilton Als, The New Yorker
“The gradual submersion into addiction and madness is brilliantly accomplished . . . Like Tove herself, the reader is balanced on the surface of the moment, appallingly captive to events as they unfold. This sensation of immediacy―of presence―is what distinguishes ‘The Copenhagen Trilogy’ from a great deal of contemporary autofiction . . . Ditlevsen’s writing is technically adroit yet feels unconscious, and it brings the reader remarkably close to experiencing the world through another person’s mind.”
―Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“There are some writers whose sentences sting like a steady stream of ice-cold water from the tap, and others whose prose feels pleasurably warm as they gradually increase the temperature. The Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen managed to do both . . . While Ditlevsen’s prose is often straightforward and uncomplicated, the effect is a hypnotic longing, the pull between desiring the life of an artist and wanting some sense of normalcy.”
―Michele Filgate, The Boston Globe
“Ditlevsen is self-deprecating and effective at conveying the fish-eye view of a child in a claustrophobic environment; she understands that part of the memoirist’s job is to remember how life felt and synthesize it in a way she couldn’t have at the time. . . . Ditlevsen is a master of slow realization, quick characterization, and concise ironies.”
―Lauren Oyler, Harper’s
“[The Copenhagen Trilogy] is an absolute tour de force, the final volume in particular. They’re as brilliant as I’d been led to expect, but also surprisingly intense and elegant . . . [Ditlevsen’s writing] is crystal clear and vividly, painfully raw.”
―Lucy Scholes, The Paris Review
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About Michael’s Lectures
“Thank you so much for visiting our class! Benny Andersen’s poetry has a very uplifting sense to it, and I’m glad you brought that to our sullen early morning class. I was very inspired by how you learned Danish and the motivation behind it.”
—Clara Flynn, High School Student
“Michael Favala Goldman treated my class to an hour and a half of delightful and stimulating musings on the art and science of translation. His talk struck a lovely balance between funny and moving, personal and universal, light and profound. My students were fully engaged and enchanted, as was I, and I hope to have him visit my classes again in the future.”
– French Professor Beth Gale, Clark University
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About Michael’s Other Work
“Sheer pleasure! Depth clothed in simplicity. An impressive collection that will be appreciated by a wide audience.”
—Prof. Nete Schmidt, Ph.D., Scandinavian Studies, Univ. of Wisconsin
“This translation has mastered the linguistic challenges. Captivating word play… enchanting imagery.”
—Dr. Leonie Marx, Univ. of Kansas, Author of Benny Andersen: A Critical Study
“Michael Goldman skillfully translates and reads aloud CD audiobooks of contemporary poetry from Danish authors in the “Poetry for the Rest of Us” series… superb choices for connoisseurs of multicultural poetry, worthy of the highest recommendation.
— Susan Bethany, Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
