Selling 'The Scream' and suggesting a great new author

By Erin Burnett

"The Scream," a painting by Edvard Munch, could become the most expensive painting ever sold.

It's up for auction at Sotheby's, here in New York City, today. Art experts expect it to sell for anywhere between $80 million and $150 million. That would smash the current auction record of $106 million paid for a Picasso in 2010.

The painting is actually one of four Screams created by Munch during his lifetime. The one on auction is owned by Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and neighbor of Munch. Olsen plans to use the money to open a museum.

When I was in Norway, I went to see one of The Screams in Oslo. My Norwegian friends are proud of the fact that Munch was from there. There's basically two big Norwegian guys – Munch and the writer Ibsen.

The two actually knew each other and took inspiration from each others' work. Ibsen the established writer in his 60s. Munch the up-and-coming artist in his 30s. But they knew each other...more than a century ago.

It's about time for another great Norwegian. And the NEXT Munch or Ibsen could be Jo Nesbø.

Nesbø is just fantastic. He's a former stock broker and rock musician and has been called the Stieg Larsson of Norway. He's sold millions of books in Norway. But he isn't nearly as famous as he should be in the rest of the world.

The new movie "Headhunters" is based on one of his books.

My favorite books by him are the ones featuring a detective named Harry Hole. And, if there's any justice, one day Harry Hole will be just as big as Harry Potter.