"The best short novel Ive read this year. . . . Small, dark, and hard to put down, THE PETS may be a classic in the literature of small enclosed spaces."Paul LaFarge-----Back in Reykjavik after a vacation in London, Emil Halldorsson is waiting for a call from a beautiful girl, Greta, that he met on the plane ride home, and hes just put on a pot of coffee when an unexpected visitor knocks on the door. Peeking through a window, Emil spies an erstwhile friendHavard Knutsson, his one-time roommate and current resident of a Swedish mental institutionon his doorstep, and he panics, taking refuge under his bed and hoping the frightful nuisance will simply go away. Havard wont be so easily put off, however, and he breaks into Emils apartment and decides to wait for his returnEmil couldnt have gone far; the pot of coffee is still warming on the stove. While Emil hides under his bed, increasingly unable to show himself with each passing moment, Havard discovers the booze, and he ends up hosting a bizarre party for Emil's friends, and Greta. An alternately dark and hilarious story of cowardice, comeuppance, and assumed identity, the breezy and straightforward style of THE PETS belies its narrative depth, and disguises a complexity that grows with every page.-----Bragi Ólafsson (author) was born in Reykjavik and is the author of several books of poetry, short stories, and four novels, including PARTY GAMES, for which he received the DV Cultural Prize in 2004. THE AMBASSADOR was a finalist for the 2008 Nordic Literature Prize and received the Icelandic Bookseller's Award as best novel of the year. He is also a founder of the publishing company Smekkleysa (Bad Taste), and has translated Paul Auster's CITY OF GLASS into Icelandic.