"The endearing and hilarious story of two just-released mental patients - one shy and imaginative, the other big and dumb - who struggle to find their place in the real world." "The Norwegian government has decided that Elling and his roommate, Kjell Bjarne, are ready to leave the Broynes Rehabilitation Center and move into an apartment in Oslo together. Told to live like "normal" people, the neurotic Elling and the oafish Kjell Bjarne quickly find themselves overwhelmed with important life lessons: phone sex lines cost a lot of money, kittens do not belong on the metro, and when you're invited to a friend's house for dinner, it's best not to arrive five hours early." "Gradually, carefully, our heroes reach out beyond each other - Elling to a reclusive old man he meets at a poetry reading, Kjell Bjarne to a pregnant neighbor abandoned by her boyfriend - and in so doing find the strength not just to rely on someone else, but also to be relied on themselves." "Sweet, sarcastic, and moving, the original Norwegian novel was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film in 2001."--BOOK JACKET.

Elling and his roommate, the uncouth, reluctant virgin Kjell Bjarne, are the Odd Couple of Oslo: a pair of confused souls taking their first steps in the outside world after years of isolated, institutional life. Given a flat in the city by social services, they must re-assimilate themselves into society or face a return to the asylum.

The understanding of (patho)physiological processes - the biosynthesis of biomolecules such as enzymes, nucleic acids, and secondary metabolites; the pathways of signaltransduction; or the function of pharmaceutical agents - is of increasing importance not only for drug research but also for the development of new synthetic methods in organic chemistry and biochemistry. In a truly interdisciplinary way bioorganic chemistry unites the central questions of biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, and spectroscopy. This book fills a void in this rapidly growing field of chemistry and gives a thorough yet understandable introduction for advanced students and researchers alike. Contributions of more than sixty scientists provide a topical overview of recent advances in: drug development based on natural products; the biosynthesis, activity, and application of enzymes; carbohydrates; peptides; nucleic acids; analytical methods in bioorganic chemistry. This book will be an appetizer for all - students and researchers alike - seeking orientation in this fascinating field of chemistry.

"Paintings" follows Lars Elling, the young Norwegian artist, through the first 15 years of his career. Many credit his success both in Norway and in New York to the seriousness--the absence of irony--with which he approaches a well-established art form, but the reproductions here make the case that it is also due to the poetic and inviting nature of his paintings. This is art that commits itself to communicating with viewers on a common ground. In an interview here, Elling is uncommonly articulate in explaining both his technique and his way of thinking about his work. With an essay by the noted poet and art critic David Shapiro, who has taught at Columbia, Princeton and Bard, and written texts for monographs on Jasper Johns, Jim Dine and Mondrian.