En sommerdag i Oslo 1959 møder vi en dreng, der får en blomme og en femøre i hånden af statsministeren, hvilket sætter gang i hans drøm om rigdom. En fortælling om en drengs rejse mod succes og et lands forandring gennem penge, politik og samfund. Valgdage følger Einar Z. Olsen, en dreng fra arbejderklassen, på hans vej til at blive en velhavende privatinvestor. Gennem fire venner og seks stortingsvalg skildrer Jan Kjærstad ikke blot Einars udvikling, men også Norges bemærkelsesværdige forandring. Romanen beretter om overgangen fra fællesskab til individualisme, fra beskedenhed til luksus og stiller skarpt på, hvordan vi former vores liv, hvem vi vælger at dele det med, og hvad det betyder for os. Midt i det hele står kærligheden som den største kraft af alle.
Author
Jan Kjærstad is a Norwegian author. Kjærstad is a theology graduate from MF Norwegian School of Theology and the University of Oslo. He has written a string of novels, short stories and essays and was editor of the literary magazine Vinduet ("The Window"). He has received a number of prizes, the most important being the Nordic Council Literature Prize, which he received for the perspectivist trilogy about the TV personality Jonas Wergeland (The Seducer, The Conqueror and The Discoverer). Kjærstad's books are complex and humorous, showing an outstanding ability to visualize modern life and its many interdependencies, reminiscent of a less computer-focused Neal Stephenson. His books have been translated to English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, and Hungarian, among others.
