One of Us

The Story of a Massacre in Norway - and Its Aftermath

By: Åsne Seierstad, Sarah Death - translator

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A harrowing and thorough account of the massacre that upended Norway, and the trial that helped put the country back together.

On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb outside government buildings in central Oslo, killing eight people. He then proceeded to a youth camp on the island of Utøya, where he killed 69 more, most of them teenage members of Norway's governing Labour Party. In One of Us, the journalist Åsne Seierstad tells the story of this terrible day and what led up to it. What made Breivik, a gifted child from an affluent neighborhood in Oslo, become a terrorist?

As in her best seller The Bookseller of Kabul, Seierstad excels at the vivid portraiture of lives under stress. She delves deep into Breivik's troubled childhood, showing how a hip-hop and graffiti aficionado became a right-wing activist and Internet game addict, and then an entrepreneur, Freemason, and self-styled master warrior who sought to "save Norway" from the threat of Islam and multiculturalism. She writes with equal intimacy about Breivik's victims, tracing their political awakenings, aspirations to improve their country, and ill-fated journeys to the island. By the time Seierstad reaches Utøya, we know both the killer and those he will kill. We have also gotten to know an entire country - famously peaceful and prosperous, and utterly incapable of protecting its youth.

©2013 Åsne Seierstad; Translation 2015 Sarah Death (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Greatly detailed recounting of horrible crimes!

Terrible crimes, intriguing story...
Really poor narrator/reader choice.
Uppity sounding reader; incongruent with atrocities of story. Too sing songy. Melodramatic voice sounds like an American soap opera star from the 1950's to 1980's

Well done

I do enjoy true crime but I’m not a fan when it feels salacious... or as if the author has an agenda... or if the victims are largely ignored. I think this book does a good job of thinking about who the perpetrator is while also considering the victims as humans. The grief of the survivors and their families is deeply and beautifully wrought. There are gruesome details but they don’t feel gratuitous or exaggerated for shock factor.

Very detailed

Would be better if I had printed edition to re read some details. Lots of details

Best podcast I have listened to!

This is a story that needed to be told. Its structure, incorporating stories of some of those affected by this atrocity, is first rate. I cannot recommend this enough.

True

I was the first person shot in the first school shooting in the United States in 1966. I laid there for 90 minutes until someone was able to get me. I was 18 and 8 months pregnant. the shooter shot for my baby in my womb. Then he killed my boyfriend.

This was one of the most therapeutic books I've ever read. I cannot explain why this is. But hearing what others went through and the careful detail that the author used was very affirming and healing.

What a powerful and disturbing book

This is a amazing work, powerful in the message of lost hope and youth by a evil twisted individual. The detail is amazing and the individual stories will brings you to tears. Well worth it.

Heart wrenching and informative

I decided to listen to this book because I wanted to know more about the case. What I ended up with is a much clearer understanding of Norway's social and political structure. Being from Minnesota, I'm basically one of the only people I know who doesn't have Norwegian or Swedish ancestry. Learning about Norway was fascinating and I'd love to travel there someday.

The author describes the perpetrator, the victims, the survivors, and the many people indirectly impacted by this crime with such care and respect. Yes - even for the perpetrator. Through his own words - his blog, his "book", his testimony - he showed what a bigoted, misguided monster he is. The author simply presented the facts in a well organized, thoughtful way. The performance was excellent - she did an amazing job pronouncing Norwegian words and didn't "Americanize" anything. I appreciated that. This book is difficult to get through. It's painful. It's unbelievably sad. Your heart will break for the parents of these children. But it's also very well written and extremely well performed.

Very sad and disturbing true story

A very sad and disturbing story. I don't want to say "I loved it" because that's not right. But It's a story that you must know and must listen to to understand. It was a very well written book. At times very graphic. It took me some time though to figure out the layout of it as it jumps between characters without a notion of who it goes to until you hear a name and than try to remember who that is. And it takes about 10 hours in to the book before the bad happens in the story. I highly recommend you all to take a listen for the lost souls sake😢

A Thoroughly Researched and though provoking Book

This is the shocking story of Anders Breivik, who, alone, killed 77 people in a one day terror attack on his fellow citizens of Norway. Many of these victims were teenagers who were attending a summer camp. This book is very well written and tells, not only the progression of this mass murderer's life , but also weaves in personal stories of the progression of many of the victims' lives. I thought this was a very important part of the story...so the reader can get a better understanding of the impact of this event.
This is really a very thoroughly investigated book and this writer tells a complete and thought provoking story.
Although the courts found this man sane, I think his own writings and actions prove differently. He is truly a madman with a murderous rage and no empathy for others. He also has an extremely high opinion of himself. The book that he was writing is an example of his disorganized, bizarre and grandiose thought. I was shocked to find that he was only given 21 years in prison... the maximum penalty in Norway. He is most certainly a danger to society and I am not sure what Norway will do with him upon release.
The narrator has a very pleasing voice and is a positive addition to the audio version of this book.

beautiful

learned, weary, heartbreaking and compelling. a great contribution to literature and a necessary reflection on our time.