Author Guide · Novels & Reportage
Books Written by
Arnon Grunberg was expelled from his Amsterdam grammar school at seventeen, ran a publishing house that went bust, and at twenty-three published a first novel that won the prize for the best debut. Six years later he won it again, under a different name, and nobody knew. Between the novels he has gone to live among the people he writes about: Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan, American troops in Iraq, the staff of hotels and psychiatric wards. In June 2026 he became writer-in-residence at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. This guide covers his twenty-one novels and books of reportage in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 21 books · Novels and reportage · 1994–2021 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Arnon Grunberg has published twenty-one novels and books of reportage between 1994 and 2021, two of the novels under the name Marek van der Jagt, plus essays, columns and plays listed further down. His best-known novels are Blauwe maandagen (1994) and Tirza (2006); his immersion journalism is collected in Kamermeisjes en soldaten (2009) and Slachters en psychiaters (2021). Several novels exist in English; the reportage so far does not.
Where to Start with Arnon Grunberg
If you want the famous one
→ Tirza (2006).
If you want to start where he started
→ Blauwe maandagen (1994).
If you came for the reportage
→ Kamermeisjes & soldaten (2009).
If you read in English
→ Fantoompijn (2000).
All 21 Arnon Grunberg Books, in Order
Blauwe maandagen
A narrator called Arnon, expelled from school, drifts through Amsterdam, his parents' house and the city's prostitutes, in a comedy that is also about growing up as the son of Holocaust survivors. It was an immediate success and appeared in English as Blue Mondays.
Figuranten
His second novel, published in English as Silent Extras; it sold more than 100,000 copies in the Netherlands.
De heilige Antonio
Written as the Boekenweekgeschenk, the short book given away free during the Dutch Book Week, and printed in more than 700,000 copies.
Fantoompijn
Robert Mehlman, a failed writer whose one success was a Polish-Jewish cookbook, sinks deeper into debt, drink and deception. In English it is Phantom Pain, shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid
Published under the name Marek van der Jagt, supposedly a young Viennese debutant, and awarded the prize for the best debut, which made Grunberg the only writer to win it twice. In English it is The Story of My Baldness.
De mensheid zij geprezen
A long essay written in the tradition of Erasmus's In Praise of Folly, about the follies of the turn of the century.
Gstaad 95–98
The second novel published under the name Marek van der Jagt, set in the Swiss resort of Gstaad.
De asielzoeker
A translator, his wife and an asylum seeker who comes into their lives, in a novel that won both the AKO Literatuurprijs, his second, and the Bordewijkprijs. In English it is The Asylum Seeker.
Grunberg rond de wereld
Travel stories from his journeys around the world, the first sign of the reporting he would do later.
De joodse messias
Xavier Radek, the grandson of an SS man, sets out to comfort the Jewish people and ends up far further than he planned, in a novel as provocative as its title. In English it is The Jewish Messiah.
Tirza
Jörgen Hofmeester, a respectable Amsterdam father, throws a graduation party for his adored daughter Tirza and then follows her to Africa, where his life comes apart. In 2010 a poll of Dutch critics and writers named it the most important novel of the century so far, and it was filmed the same year. In English it is Tirza.
Onze oom
A girl who lives like a dead person among the living and a major who tries to overcome his shame by leading an insurgent army; Grunberg drew on his time with the army in Afghanistan.
Kamermeisjes & soldaten
His first collection of immersion journalism: reports from the places he went to live and work in, including his time embedded with Dutch troops in Afghanistan and American troops in Iraq.
Huid en haar
An ambitious young economist and the women in his life, in a novel translated into French and German among other languages.
De man zonder ziekte
A Swiss architect of Indian descent who believes in doing good travels to Baghdad to design an opera house, and finds that good intentions are no protection. Le Monde called it a gateway to his work.
Het bestand
Written while scientists measured his brain activity, heart rate and emotions, as part of an experiment into how a novel gets written; readers' reactions were then measured too.
Moedervlekken
The first novel about the psychiatrist Otto Kadoke, who works for a crisis service in Amsterdam.
Goede mannen
Another of his men with nothing but good intentions and a great deal of bad luck.
Bezette gebieden
Otto Kadoke from Moedervlekken travels to the West Bank to visit a distant relative, in a tragicomic love story.
Slachters en psychiaters
His reports from December 2009 to June 2020, the second collection of his immersion journalism.
De dood in Taormina
A novel named after the Sicilian town of Taormina.
How Many Books Did Arnon Grunberg Write?
Twenty-one novels and books of reportage between 1994 and 2021, plus essays, columns, stories and plays.
- Novels — seventeen, from Blauwe maandagen (1994) to De dood in Taormina (2021), two of them as Marek van der Jagt. Read the entries →
- Reportage — Grunberg rond de wereld (2004), Kamermeisjes & soldaten (2009) and Slachters en psychiaters (2021). Read the entries →
- Essay — De mensheid zij geprezen (2001). Read the entries →
- Everything else — stories, essays, columns, letters and plays. See the full list →
In What Order to Read Arnon Grunberg
His novels are not a series, apart from the two Otto Kadoke books, Moedervlekken and Bezette gebieden, which read best in that order. The reportage collections can be read alongside the novels they fed into, such as Onze oom after his time in Afghanistan.
A reading path
1. Tirza (2006)
2. Blauwe maandagen (1994)
3. Kamermeisjes & soldaten (2009)
4. De asielzoeker (2003)
5. Moedervlekken (2016) and Bezette gebieden (2020)
Everything Else Arnon Grunberg Wrote: The Full List
Beyond the twenty-one novels and books of reportage: his stories, essays and columns. The books you can actually buy sit at the top of each form.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Stories
2
2 books · 2001–2013
- 2001Amuse-gueulestories, in English Amuse-Bouche
- 2013Apocalypsstories
Essays and columns
3
3 books · 1998–2013
- 1998Troost van de slapstickessays
- 2012Voetnoota first collection of his daily column in de Volkskrant
- 2013Buster Keaton lacht nooitessays
As Marek van der Jagt
2
2 books · 2001
- 2001Monogaamessay
- 2001Otto Weininger of bestaat de jood?essay
Quick facts about Arnon Grunberg
- Born
- February 22, 1971, Amsterdam
- Lives
- New York
- Family
- A German-Jewish family
- Pen name
- Marek van der Jagt
- Prizes
- AKO Literatuurprijs (twice); Libris Literatuurprijs; Constantijn Huygensprijs (2009); P.C. Hooftprijs (2022)
- Reporting
- Embedded with Dutch troops in Afghanistan and American troops in Iraq; visited Guantánamo Bay
- Translations
- His work has been translated into some thirty languages
- Now
- Vrije Schrijver, writer-in-residence, at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from June 2026
How Arnon Grunberg Works: Everything Is Field Research
Grunberg treats his own life and other people's as material. He has said that he writes because he wants to know how people manage to live their lives, and that everything, friendship, sex, love and work, is field research.
That curiosity drives his reportage: rather than interviewing, he goes to live and work alongside the people he writes about, whether soldiers, hotel staff or patients, and then often turns what he saw into fiction, as with Onze oom after Afghanistan.
He also experiments with the act of writing itself. He wrote Het bestand wired up to sensors that recorded his brain activity and emotions, so that scientists could study how a novel comes into being.
Frequently asked questions about Arnon Grunberg's books
How many books has Arnon Grunberg written?
Arnon Grunberg has published twenty-one novels and books of reportage between 1994 and 2021, two of the novels under the name Marek van der Jagt, as well as essays, stories, columns and plays.
What is Arnon Grunberg's best book?
His most acclaimed novels are Blauwe maandagen (1994) and Tirza (2006). In 2010 a poll of Dutch critics, academics and writers named Tirza the most important novel of the twenty-first century so far.
Who is Marek van der Jagt?
Marek van der Jagt is a pen name Grunberg used for two novels and two essays around 2000. The first novel, De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid, won the Anton Wachterprijs for the best debut, which Grunberg had already won with Blauwe maandagen.
Are Arnon Grunberg's books available in English?
Several of his novels are, including Blue Mondays, Silent Extras, Phantom Pain, The Story of My Baldness, The Jewish Messiah and Tirza. His reportage collections have not been translated into English.
What is Kamermeisjes en soldaten?
Kamermeisjes & soldaten (2009) collects Grunberg's immersion journalism up to 2009, including his time embedded with soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. A second collection, Slachters en psychiaters, followed in 2021.
Footnotes
- Arnon Grunberg — Wikipedia
- About — arnongrunberg.com
- Arnon Grunberg nieuwe Vrije Schrijver van de VU — Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Arnon Grunberg — Dublin Literary Award
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations