Writing subtitles helped create a style purged of superfluous prose

He’s written two more since then, has sold worldwide, and in 2010, The Twin won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Twin has been made into a movie, and his latest book The Detour has been signed up for one.

Talking on the phone from Amsterdam, Bakker is quietly spoken, modest, and clearly sensitive. He answers each question with apparent interest and courtesy. But this is no surprise. That sensitivity to humanity is evident in his writing. All this success, yet Bakker still feels surprised to have made it as a writer.