Per Šmidl lived for two years in Wagon 537 at Christiania. Then he moved to Paris, then California and when he got back to Denmark he wrote the bestseller Chop Suey. Many years as a political dissident in Prague followed after the publication in Denmark of his book Victim of Welfare in 1995. The book challenged the role and freedom of the individual in the welfare state. Some of the previous publications by Per Šmidl includes the novel Mathias Kraft, 1999, and the essay ”Ytringsfrihed,” which means “Freedom of Speech,” 2006.