This reads at times like a gripping memoir. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect here but I ended up loving the writing and story. Poor Jonas was so lost but never let himself go under. I found myself constantly surprised and touched by his insightfulness about even the smallest things. Jonas was a great narrator.

I’ve wondered quite a bit about addiction such as Jonas suffers from, and this is one of the first books that has left me feeling conflicted on the topic. I’ve never suffered from the same addictions as Jonas but while reading this I felt as though I were right there with him experiencing everything he did and recalling all of his memories.

Lichtman really brings Jonas to life here. In short I felt this was a surprisingly emotional read.

This book tells the story of a drug addicted creative writing teacher who loses his job and travels to Sweden to hopefully get clean. This book touches upon many different subjects and ideas.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Captivating story of a writer struggling professionally as a creative writing teacher but finding while it pays the bills, he really has limited interest and the pressure of being on and successful pushes him toward his personal struggles as a writer and recovering drug addict.

The narrative moves quickly, but succinctly, and you feel for Jonas because his efforts to change his situation while noble are met with continually met with frustration, if not failure.

When his teaching career fizzles out after one semester, he moves to Sweden, a place where he’s had dual citizenship since birth — hoping to separate himself from his past drug connections and focus more on writing and his place in a part of the world where though he was born into, isn’t really a part. While he does make strides in those areas, it’s not an entirely clean slate. He doesn’t kid himself about continually being drawn to drug use or what the drugs do for him; he’s still hiding that part of himself from his close friends and wanting still, to be a better person.

At the same time, Sweden is facing an influx of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan - it’s all over the news, and surprisingly (to him) in his face when he walks home after night out and sees the desperate families along the train station. He gets involved, seeking both to help in some way but also companionship - another aspect of his life in which he’s unable to articulate what he wants (companionship? romantic relationship? friends?) because it’s complicated.

Jonas is a messy person - his struggles are relevant and timely; he evolves through his struggles genuinely and not without cost.

Jonas Anderson, a twenty eight year old drug addict and creative writing teacher, had been fired again. Could it be the current assignment...attend a stranger's funeral and write about it? He was proud of the quality work produced by a struggling student. Jonas tirelessly worked with her to help shape her creative submission only to find out that she was not creative at all. She had plagiarized her work. Time to get high on drugs. "I had always thought of getting high as taking a vacation from myself...". Something had to change!

Dual American-Swedish citizenship had its advantages. Jonas grew up in Los Angeles, CA where his American mother insisted he learn Swedish as well. Determined to kick his drug habit, he moved to Lund, a college town in Southern Sweden, to pursue a master's degree in literature. Sweden was arguably one of the most drug free countries. Would a change in "geography" produce clean living? "Sobriety was a continuous struggle to appear comfortable while tremendously uncomfortable". Perhaps if not hungover, Jonas's writer's block would dissipate and his creative juices would flow.

Living in Lund, then Malmo, Sweden was challenging in 2014-2015. The Syrian Civil War had created a refugee crisis. Sweden had open borders. Jonas found a new purpose, volunteering to teach Swedish to Middle Eastern refugees. His intent was to "do good". Would he understand the needs of the young refugees under his tutelage to "forget the past" and "live in the future"?

"Such Good Work" by Johannes Lichtman was a heartfelt, compassionate, debut novel. The challenges of achieving sobriety cannot be understated. Presenting the refugee crisis with utmost clarity, the "dissonance" created between believers in an open nation versus an anti-immigration policy is debated. A highly recommended read.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Such Good Work".

A great story about very tough subjects! I was easily engrossed in the author's recounting of a drug addiction + how to best serve recently-arrived refugees.

This book was very heavy. I was prepared for that though based on what the synopsis was. I found the main character likable, someone I could root for. This book touches on very important topics and would be a good book to dissect at a book club, The journey of self discovery is one I think all humans find themselves on at one point or another during their lives. It's almost essential to our being and nature to figure out why we are here and to serve what purpose for how long. I think anyone who loves to ponder that subject and enjoys a somewhat heavy and educational read, with likable and charming characters, will enjoy this book. Some of the topics or landscapes may not interest everybody, I think I enjoyed the second half of the book a bit more, and learning about Sweden, but still overall a decent read to check out if you're in a slump or need to chuckle a little bit. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon And Schuster for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review. Will post to my instagram, blog and Goodreads when publication date is closer. Thank you!

Unpopular opinion here, regrettably. Despite all the positive reviews, I just couldn't get into it.

The beginning was OK as I get to know the narrator. He was sensitive and funny, and always trying to do some good, to friends and strangers.

But once that was established, I found my attention starting to drift away.

The second half of the story was much better, where I got to learn something about Sweden - its culture and politics, how it deals with refugees and how everyone's opinion and stand, despite the intention to 'help', differ from each other. I loved the discussions they had at the meetings held at the Second Language Cafe.

Overall, there were some funny moments which made me smile, some that made me think, but there were more that made me skimmed through the pages.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A full review will be posted on my blog and Goodreads and shared on Twitter and Litsy, closer to publication day.

A good book, little heavy at times but with an extremely likable character. Multi cultural and educational good read.
Thank you NetGalley for free advance reading copy!

This is a compelling read, and it's not because the protagonist, Jonas, is charming and what one would call "easy to like," but because his on his own journey of self discovery and struggles with sobriety continents apart.
What the author succeeds in portraying is how flawed people can be in their thoughts and intentions, and we see this through Jonas' eyes and as he travels from the US to Sweden and finds himself at Malmo, teaching refugees Swedish.
The pace is great and for someone who is from another continent and a fan of Zlatan, the mention of his name alone was enough for me to take a liking to this book. So, here's to Netgalley, thanks for the eARC, I can't wait to hear what other readers would have to say on this debut, it's earned my approval, and I know it'll charm them too.

This is a bicontinental story of self discovery. No, that isn’t right. Although technically this is a story of a young man with a dual (Swedish and American) citizenship who lives in both countries and speaks both languages while trying to navigate life and newly found sobriety. Or is this a story of an addict who desperately tries to get clean and stay clean, which requires finding other more natural stimulants in life. Or possibly this is a story of a young liberal man steeped in white privilege who gets involved in the refugee crisis and desperately tries to help. Ok it’s all of those things. And surprisingly enjoyable, despite the fact that it can be easily dismissed as a naïve well meaning do gooder quest by a clichéd naïve well meaning moralistic character. But really the protagonist, Jonas, is an immensely likeable person despite his many faults, the narrative was immensely readable and both were completely engaging. From an international reading perspective for me it was fascinating to learn about Swedish politics (their extremist party which was recently in the news is named Swedish Democrats oddly enough and there are 9 parties altogether) and social mores, particularly in the wake of the recent refugee crisis, which Jonas finds himself involved with. So not only there is some amusement drawn from Jonas trying to readjust his mentality from American to Swedish and some tragicomedic comparisons of Europe to USA, but also there are interesting meditations of the nature of assistance when offered. Sweden took in a disproportionate share of refugees at the time before safety concerns forced them to rethink their welcome arms policies. Jonas and his oversized social conscience as it works to eliminate his need for chemical stimulation plunges right in, forming an attachment to one of the boys, but finds his efforts limited, thwarted by policies and regulations. It is fascinating to see how a traditional homogenous society such as Sweden absorbs such a large flood of foreigners, actually it’d be even more fascinating to see the effects of this in the future, the demographic shifts and all that. So depending on where you stand on this very timely matters, this book might be either enlightening or frustrating for you. But, as Jonas mentions, it is unlikely to change anyone’s mind, because all the minds are made up and then the information is sought out to accommodate those opinions. I personally didn’t find my position on the matter changing, but it did offer some food for thought. And then of course the addiction is such a hot button subject nowadays also (the author really did a two for one current affairs bonanza here) and that was pretty edifying to behold, Jonas is, after all, an educated man, an educator himself, with friends, prospects, etc. and his chosen method of coping with the world is just so sad. Then again as a character it gives him an arc and something for the reader to cheer him on as he strives to become free of his dependencies. So yeah, many things to say about this book, but what really makes you want to read about Jonas, what makes him a compelling narrator, is that despite various obstacles, he strives, he actively tries to be good and do good.it’s difficult and it’s vital and it’s just…Such Good Work. And that’s really about as much as you can ask of a person. Or of a literally character. So yeah, I enjoyed this book very much. The author did very well, particularly for a debut. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.