We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

The Room: A Novel
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(2)
4 star
 
(0)
3 star
 
(0)
2 star
 
(0)
1 star
 
(0)
Published:
Books on Tape 2015
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
“The daily grind got you down? Escape into this Swedish dark comedy about a scaldingly contemptuous office drone who discovers a secret room in his workplace.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

The inspiration for the upcoming feature film Corner Office, starring Jon Hamm
Björn is a compulsive, meticulous bureaucrat who discovers a secret room at the government office where he works—a secret room that no one else in his office will acknowledge. When Björn is in his room, what his co-workers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Björn’s bizarre behavior eventually leads his co-workers to try and have him fired, but Björn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room.
Debut author Jonas Karlsson doesn’t leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go—in a world ruled by conformity—to live an individual and examined life.
Also in This Series
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
OverDrive Listen
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
02/17/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780553410006
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Jonas Karlsson. (2015). The Room: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Jonas Karlsson. 2015. The Room: A Novel. Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Jonas Karlsson, The Room: A Novel. Books on Tape, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Jonas Karlsson. The Room: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection22
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
2e78eb2c-3086-5f35-117b-25d2922f16c5
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:28:19
Date Updated:
Dec 09, 2020 17:50:57
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:54:10
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 02, 2023 09:44:24
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:54:13
Last Availability Change:
Aug 21, 2023 00:08:51
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/C27/43E/4A/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/C27/43E/4A/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780553409994
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553410006
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780553409994
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553410006
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
mediaType
Audiobook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Jonas Karlsson
title
The Room
dateAdded
2015-02-09T12:41:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=1746054
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Room A Novel
crossRefId
1746054
subtitle
A Novel
id
c2743e4a-c7a6-48f1-9cad-2fddaa171d00
starRating
3.3

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • duration: 03:27:28
      • fileName: TheRoom_9780553409994_1746054
      • partCount: 3
      • fileSize: 99606912
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780553409994
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553410006
      • rights:
            • type: PlayOnPC
            • value: 1
            • type: PlayOnPCCount
            • value: -1
            • type: BurnToCD
            • value: 1
            • type: BurnToCDCount
            • value: -1
            • type: PlayOnPM
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToNonSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferCount
            • value: -1
            • type: CollaborativePlay
            • value: 0
            • type: PublicPerformance
            • value: 0
            • type: TranscodeToAAC
            • value: 1
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • onSaleDate: 2/17/2015
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/1746054-TheRoom.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • duration: 03:27:29
      • fileName: RoomANovel-58438
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 99594238
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780553409994
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553410006
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 2/17/2015
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/1746054-TheRoom.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Karlsson, Jonas
      • bioText: JONAS KARLSSON writes plays and short fiction. One of Sweden's most prominent actors, Karlsson has performed on Sweden's premier stage and in several acclaimed feature films and television series. In 2005, Karlsson made his debut as a playwright, earning rave reviews from audience and critics alike. Spurred by the joy of writing for the stage, Karlsson began writing fiction.
      • name: Jonas Karlsson
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Newbern, George
      • name: George Newbern
imprint
Random House Audio
publishDate
2015-02-17T00:00:00-05:00
edition
Unabridged
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
The Room
fullDescription
“The daily grind got you down? Escape into this Swedish dark comedy about a scaldingly contemptuous office drone who discovers a secret room in his workplace.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

The inspiration for the upcoming feature film Corner Office, starring Jon Hamm
Björn is a compulsive, meticulous bureaucrat who discovers a secret room at the government office where he works—a secret room that no one else in his office will acknowledge. When Björn is in his room, what his co-workers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Björn’s bizarre behavior eventually leads his co-workers to try and have him fired, but Björn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room.
Debut author Jonas Karlsson doesn’t leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go—in a world ruled by conformity—to live an individual and examined life.
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Nick Offerman, author of Paddle Your Own Canoe
      • content: "The Room is the most effective chapbook on workplace comportment since Glengarry Glen Ross. Hats off!"
      • premium: False
      • source: Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others
      • content:
        "A gripping, tense, demonic fable in which the unease is precision-tooled and the turns of the screw wholly unexpected."
      • premium: False
      • source: Booklist
      • content:
        "Karlsson deftly captures individual voices, which he conveys directly (as Björn reveals his obsessions) and indirectly (as Björn describes interactions with coworkers). Using Björn's voice to draw characters and build dramatic tension, Karlsson exposes the gifts and gaffes, visions and delusions, and the rise and fall of a seemingly ordinary civil servant." --Publishers Weekly (starred)

        "A contemporary tale worthy of comparison to Franz Kafka's works, Amélie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling, and Herman Melville's classic 'Bartelby, the Scrivener,' while the antics of Björn's fellow workers recall Terry Gilliam's film Brazil. Enjoyable reading, extremely well executed, this fable should become mandatory reading for cubicle and office workers everywhere." --Library Journal (starred)

        "Part psychological drama documenting a disturbed man's possible descent into madness and part satirical take on corporate culture and the alienated workers it produces, Karlsson succeeds admirably in creating the perfect combination of funny, surreal, and disturbing."
      • premium: False
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:
        "Provocative...Karlsson's deft jab at dead-end workplaces keeps you agreeably off-balance and eager for more of his work."
      • premium: False
      • source: Göteborgsposten (Sweden)
      • content:
        "A flawless novel that you will finish with a smile." --Knack (Netherlands)

        "Jonas Karlsson masterfully tells us about his main character's Kafkaesque adventure."
        --Panorama (Italy)

        "A Beckettian drama in an open plan office." --Il Giornale (Italy)

        "Sweden has its own Kafka in Jonas Karlsson." --DeMorgen (Netherlands)

        "Fascinating.... Every time you think you know where Bjorn is heading, he does or says something that tilts the whole story. Minimalism and surrealism, bundled in a short but powerful novel." --DeZondag (Netherlands)

        "The Room has the qualities of a masterpiece."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from December 15, 2014
        Swedish actor and playwright Karlsson’s short novel offers a monologue that builds from simple office satire to a reality-bending psychological profile with insights into the nature and importance of personal space. Bjorn, a Stockholm bureaucrat, is a meticulous but unreliable narrator whose sense of superiority comes in conflict with the facts. When his boss eases him into another job, a demotion in several ways, Bjorn sees it as his chance to blossom into his full potential, which unfolds in a series of short, often humorous, and increasingly disturbing narratives. Bjorn begins the new job by organizing his days into 55-minute intervals with five-minute breaks. During one such break, he sees a door. When he steps inside, he finds a small, tidy, unused office. The problem with this room is no one else sees it—and it’s not the only thing Bjorn sees that others do not. In the receptionist’s smile Bjorn sees an invitation; in his desk-mate’s pile of papers he sees encroachment; in his coworkers’ denial of the room he sees conspiracy. Bjorn visits a psychiatrist, promises to never reenter the room, and meanwhile devises a strategy to defeat his adversaries. Karlsson deftly captures individual voices, which he conveys directly (as Bjorn reveals his obsessions) and indirectly (as Bjorn describes interactions with coworkers). Using Bjorn’s voice to draw characters and build dramatic tension, Karlsson exposes the gifts and gaffes, visions and delusions, and the rise and fall of a seemingly ordinary civil servant.

popularity
176
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/c2743e4a-c7a6-48f1-9cad-2fddaa171d00/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
c2743e4a-c7a6-48f1-9cad-2fddaa171d00
starRating
3.3
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/C27/43E/4A/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/C27/43E/4A/{C2743E4A-C7A6-48F1-9CAD-2FDDAA171D00}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Literature
      • value: Short Stories
publishDateText
02/17/2015
mediaType
Audiobook
shortDescription
“The daily grind got you down? Escape into this Swedish dark comedy about a scaldingly contemptuous office drone who discovers a secret room in his workplace.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

The inspiration for the upcoming feature film Corner Office, starring Jon Hamm
Björn is a compulsive, meticulous bureaucrat who discovers a secret room at the government office where he works—a secret room that no one else in his office will acknowledge. When Björn is in his room, what his co-workers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Björn’s bizarre behavior eventually leads his co-workers to try and have him fired, but Björn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room.
Debut author Jonas Karlsson doesn’t leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go—in a world ruled...
sortTitle
Room A Novel
crossRefId
1746054
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Books on Tape
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC019000
      • description: Fiction / Literary
      • code: FIC052000
      • description: Fiction / Satire
      • code: FIC064000
      • description: Fiction / Absurdist