Literature and Fiction · Hardback

The Dream Bike Register

Norwegian title: Drømmenes sykkelregister

Erlend Loe

The Dream Bike Register is about Solveig (who after a while changes her name to Sara, then to Fleur and later to Flexie-Belle) whose bicycle is stolen in a dream and then discovers that her insurance doesn’t cover bicycles stolen in dreams.

She feels alone and not present in her own life. She also struggles with boyfriends. She’s had way too many in too short a time. All the while, bicycles keep disappearing in her dreams. The Hittites steal them. And Einar Tambarskjelve. And her neighbour Krout keeps going out. After an especially silly dream where Fleur’s bicycle is stolen while she makes a speech about bike theft at the UN, she rants online. And quickly becomes a spokesperson for people who are sad and upset after having their bicycles stolen from them in their dreams.

Flexie-Belle starts a movement. She gets Krout onboard. And after a while establishes dreambikeregister.com, which receives registrations from across the world. Thousands of bikes disappear in dreams every single night. But thanks to the register a lot of people get their dream bikes back. Everyone joins in. The Norwegian City of Trondheim becomes the first place in the world to collectively register the bikes their inhabitants use in their dreams. Shangai becomes the first large city in Asia to join.

Flexie-Belle becomes a hero, she gets rich, and finally gets her life in order. The Dream Bike Register is a success story.

Norwegian star author has committed a small stroke of genius. Again.«Regardless: Erlend Loe's beautiful, short, touching and insanely funny novel is both very light and very deep. Typically him... Its main character is not at all likeable. The novel about her is another stroke of genius from the man behind the novels "Doppler" and "Fvonk" and other delights. It's good that he exists.»BERLINSKE (Denmark), five/five starsSeriously funny from Loe«You'll struggle to find a more distinct literary project than that of Erlend Loe. Key words: humour and naivity.»NRKMakes you chuckle«The imaginative author Erlend Loe denies himself little, as usual, in a story that exists far from realism's demand of credibility. The short novel will hit home for loyal Loe readers.»VG«... balances beautifully on the border between the completely banal and the pleasantly recognisable. ... The result is highly charming reading.»KLASSEKAMPEN