It had been awhile since I had read a Jonas Jonasson book. The Prophet and the Idiot has been on my “to read” list for some time. It has probably been on my list since I read The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. As soon as I started reading it, I wondered why I had waited so long.
Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
The brand-new, hilarious, feel-good adventure from the internationally bestselling author of The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
Sweden, late summer of 2011. Self-taught astrophysicist Petra has calculated that the atmosphere will collapse on the 21st of September that year, around 21:20 to be more precise, bringing about the end of times.
Armed with this terrible knowledge, Petra, a doomsday prophet, meets Johan and Agnes, a widow of 75 who has made bank living a double life on social media as a young influencer. Together, the trio race through Europe as they plan to make the most out of the time they have left, in more ways than one.
But of course, things rarely go to plan, even the end of the world…
Jonasson once again had my laughing out loud with this book. His characters are unique and weird (in a good way). The scenarios are sometimes so ridiculous and take things to an extreme that as unbelievable as it is, it is totally believable.
Johan’s brother is not very nice to him. Instead of leaving him their 12 bedroom home that their father left to them, his brother sells it so he can go to Italy to be an Ambassador. He doesn’t leave Johan homeless, though, as he buys him a spiffy RV to live in. When Johan decides to take the RV out that he finds Petra and then Agnes.
The three go out to set things right with things from their personal lives before the world ends. This takes them on a jaunt to a few different countries and along the way experience some crazy situations. These three truly had me laughing and hoping that there is a sequel.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
It sounds rather amusing, BUT, “Self-taught astrophysicist Petra has calculated that the atmosphere will collapse” completely lost me.
I don’t know that I could overcome that to actually enjoy the book as a whole.
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Spoiler Alert: Petra is wrong.
I guess I look at it this way – people have calculated the day the world will end, the day the sun will explode, the day Christ will return, the day of the Rapture, the day that California will fall into the ocean, etc …. They’ve all been wrong. Oh, they believe they are right, and may scare others into believing them to be true, but they are wrong.
To me, “self-taught astrophysicist” in itself is a joke. I read a cook book once and I don’t see myself as a “self-taught chef.” When I came at it from that angle, I just chocked Petra up as another “nut case.”
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Gotcha. Her just being a nutcase would allow me to gloss right over that.
I cooked a frozen pizza in the oven last night, so I feel like Emeril or Gordan Ramsay should be asking me for tips now ;-)
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I like a fun book, especially with more mature characters. A 75 year old masquerading as a young influencer grabbed me right away. Thanks for the recommendation Keith.
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I can’t wait to read this!
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