Since his poetic debut in 1980, Einar Már Gudmundsson has become recognized as one of the most important and influential voices among the Icelandic writers of his generation. Einar Már is innovative as the first mature Icelandic voice that is purely urban in origin. All of his novels are set in the Reykjavík metropolitan area, and looming large in the background of each is a vivid portrait of this fluid and developing city. His work is also the first in Iceland to incorporate fully the international realities of the postmodern world and its popular culture (for example, Hollywood, Walt Disney, and rock music). In other respects, his poetry, prose, and screenwriting can be seen as deeply rooted in many Icelandic literary and artistic conventions, some as old as the medieval sagas. His literary point of view is comprehensive and international. As he remarked...