Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.

Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant). A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. 'This previously untold story of survival and personal fortitude is on par with Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken.The 100-Year-Old Man: Who Climbed Out the Window and DisappearedĪ reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it’s not too late to start over.Īfter a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. 'This previously untold story of survival and personal fortitude is on par with Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken.'- Library Journal (starred review) Her readers will be rapt-and a lot smarter by the end.'-Meghan Daum, author of The Problem with Everything 'I am in awe of what Dawn MacKeen has done here. MacKeen's excavation of the past reveals both uncomfortable and uplifting lessons about our present.'-Ari Shapiro, NPR Participants walk 30 km (19 mi), 40 km (25 mi) or 50 km (31. It is organised every year in Nijmegen, Netherlands in mid-July as a means of promoting sport and exercise. 'This book reminds us that the way we treat strangers can ripple out in ways we will never know. The International Four Day Marches Nijmegen ( Dutch: Internationale Vierdaagse Afstandsmarsen Nijmegen) is the largest multiple day marching event in the world. Their shared story is a testament to family, to home, and to the power of the human spirit to transcend the barriers of religion, ethnicity, and even time itself. Dawn uses his journals to guide her to the places he was imperiled and imprisoned and the desert he crossed with only half a bottle of water. In The Hundred-Year Walk, MacKeen alternates between Stepan's courageous account, drawn from his long-lost journals, and her own story as she attempts to retrace his steps, setting out alone to Turkey and Syria, shadowing her resourceful, resilient grandfather across a landscape still rife with tension. Growing up, Dawn MacKeen heard from her mother how her grandfather Stepan miraculously escaped from the Turks during the Armenian genocide of 1915, when more than one million people-half the Armenian population-were killed. We asked three unique and lovely centenarians what their most valuable life lessons were, and also their regrets.The conversations that followed were remarka.

'An emotionally poignant work' of survival during the Armenian genocide (Aline Ohanesian, author of Orhan's Inheritance). A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the agescharming, endearing, and compulsively readable. A Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist and New York Post Must-Read. The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires.

The hundred year walk summary