In Frederik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, Ove is the quintessential grumpy old man. The self-appointed enforcer of Residents’ Association rules. The responsible man frustrated by the incompetence of everyone around him. The despiser of computers and consultants and joggers. Ove has lost his beloved wife and just been forcibly retired from his job. He has no friends. He decides to end his life. When a new neighbor backs a moving trailer into Ove’s empty rose bed, Ove’s plans to end his life are thwarted again and again. Soon Ove has unintentionally drawn around him a muddle of neighbors, and a stray cat, who collectively shape a new purpose for his life.
