Mark Schalekamp's (1968, The Netherlands) debut in 1997 was the publication of the poem Voetbal & Meisjes in the magazine Hard Gras, followed in 2000 by a collection of short stories published by Uitgeverij Thomas Rap as De Rebellenclub. He subsequently founded the company Robin Good, a pioneer in the area of socially responsible entrepreneurship. The Parvenu is his first novel. In the Netherlands The Parvenu is a great success, it reached best-sellerstatus in half a year, film rights were sold to Eyeworks, the Netherlands' leading film producers.