Stieg Larsson: The Real Story of the Man Who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson: The Real Story of the Man Who Played With Fire  by Jan-Erik Pettersson

Ever since reading the Millennium Trilogy and learning about the tragic circumstances of the author's sudden death, I have felt compelled to learn more about this new Swedish author, Stieg Larsson.  And the more I have read about Larsson, the more I feel the literary world has lost a strong, passionate voice for women's rights and social justice. 

Pettersson shows how Stieg's energetic championing of social justice and women's rights characterized his life as well as his work, ultimately culminating in the Millennium Trilogy and particularly the characters of the unforgettable Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomkvist. Larsson started his career as a journalist and eventually established his own magazine, called Expo, devoted to monitoring right-wing extremists.  In fact Larsson became an expert on extremist groups and was frequently interviewed or asked to consult with other countries, governments and political leaders.

Luckily, this book is not so much a biography, as it is a reflection and personal insight and explanation into a colleague and friend and what motivated him.  While the book starts out somewhat slow and tedious as Pettersson gets bogged down into a description and history of the area in which Larsson grew up, it picks up as he shifts his focus to Larsson himself.  His research spans Larsson's full life (1954–2005) and includes substantial detail about Larsson's early interests in left-wing politics, which motivated him to monitor and counter the rise of neo-Nazi fascism in Sweden, a course that endangered his life.  Pettersson claims this was the main reason why Stieg and Eva, his partner, never married.  He did not want to endanger himself and Eva by having information about themselves on a public register.  Pettersson provides several examples of deadly retaliation on journalists and the general public, when these extremist groups feel threatened.  Consider the current case of mass killings in Norway.

Pettersson claims Stieg had a sense that his books would be successful.  He was involved in the planning, production and negotiations in having rights to his books picked up by publishers in other countries. Stieg also was aware a film company in Sweden was interested in adapting his novels to the screen. Fans of the novels will appreciate this behind the scenes and insightful look into the Man Who Played with Fire.