Kirjahaku

An autobiographical novel about growing up gay in a working-class town in Picardy. "Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over again . . . Today I'm really gonna be a tough guy." Growing up in a poor village in northern France, all Eddy Bellegueule wanted was to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different--"girlish," intellectually precocious, and attracted to other men. Already translated into twenty languages, The End of Eddy captures the violence and desperation of life in a French factory town. It is also a sensitive, universal portrait of boyhood and sexual awakening. Like Karl Ove Knausgaard or Edmund White, douard Louis writes from his own undisguised experience, but he writes with an openness and a compassionate intelligence that are all his own. The result--a critical and popular triumph--has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, BBC, and Hudson BooksellersA New Yorker Recommended Read of the Year An autobiographical novel from douard Louis, hailed as one of the most important voices of his generation--about social class, transformation, and the perils of leaving the past behind.One question took center stage in my life, it focused all my thoughts and occupied every moment when I was alone with myself: how could I get this revenge, by what means? I tried everything. douard Louis longs for a life beyond the poverty, discrimination, and violence in his working-class hometown--so he sets out for school in Amiens and, later, university in Paris. He sheds the provincial "Eddy" for an elegant new name, determined to eradicate every aspect of his past. He reads incessantly, he dines with aristocrats, he spends nights with millionaires and drug dealers alike. Everything he does is motivated by a single obsession: to become someone else. At once harrowing and profound, Change is not just a personal odyssey, a story of dreams and of "the beautiful violence of being torn away," but a vividly rendered portrait of a society divided by class, power, and inequality.

When douard's mother reveals she is--not for the first time--enduring an abusive relationship, mother and son plot her next steps in what is at once an edge-of-the-seat escape narrative and a meditation on freedom and renewal. Late one night, douard receives a telephone call from his mother. In tears, she tells him that her partner, her first since her abusive marriage with douard's father, has been insulting, degrading, and humiliating her. I thought this would be a new life for me and now it's starting all over. From afar, in Athens, douard swiftly sets a plan in place for Monique; the next morning, she departs the apartment she has been sharing with the man. What takes shape over the next weeks, over phone calls and informal Internet tutorials, on video chats and train rides, is a powerful and transformative shared experience for mother and son as they navigate the aftermath of male brutality, confront the limitations of class and society, and lay bare the pain of their past. With characteristic insight into society's underpinnings and oversights, and with exquisite and tender portraiture, douard Louis's Monique Escapes is a profound story of a woman, a mother, and a family's search for more.

From "one of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation" (The Guardian), an unflinching account of douard Louis's brother's life and death. douard's brother spent much of his life dreaming. He lived in a poor, working-class world, where he imagined that he would become one of the finest butchers in France, that he would travel, that he would make his fortune, that he would restore cathedrals, and that his father, who had disappeared, would return and love him. But there was no way to escape, no one who could show him how, and everything about him--his drinking, his violence, his behavior with women and with others--condemned him. At thirty-eight, after years of failure and depression, he was found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. douard Louis traces the life of a man who was in many ways deplorable: violent, misogynistic, homophobic, brutal. But where might understanding begin, and how far can it extend? In Collapse, Louis pursues every angle for answers--newly consulting writers and psychoanalysts and questioning his siblings, his mother, his brother's partners, and himself. From an outpouring of memory and pain comes a radical gesture of dignity and forgiveness.

History of Violence is international bestselling French author Edouard Louis's autobiographical novel about surviving a shocking sexual assault and coping with the post-traumatic stress disorder of its aftermath. On Christmas Eve 2012, in Paris, the novelist douard Louis was raped and almost murdered by a man he had just met. This act of violence left Louis shattered; its aftermath made him a stranger to himself and sent him back to the village, the family, and the past he had sworn to leave behind. A bestseller in France, History of Violence is a short nonfiction novel in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, but with the victim as its subject. Moving seamlessly and hypnotically between past and present, between Louis's voice and the voice of an imagined narrator, History of Violence has the exactness of a police report and the searching, unflinching curiosity of memoir at its best. It records not only the casual racism and homophobia of French society but also their subtle effects on lovers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives. It represents a great step forward for a young writer whose acuity, skill, and depth are unmatched by any novelist of his generation, in French or English.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, BBC, and Hudson BooksellersA New Yorker Recommended Read of the Year An autobiographical novel from douard Louis, hailed as one of the most important voices of his generation--about social class, transformation, and the perils of leaving the past behind.One question took center stage in my life, it focused all my thoughts and occupied every moment when I was alone with myself: how could I get this revenge, by what means? I tried everything. douard Louis longs for a life beyond the poverty, discrimination, and violence in his working-class hometown--so he sets out for school in Amiens and, later, university in Paris. He sheds the provincial "Eddy" for an elegant new name, determined to eradicate every aspect of his past. He reads incessantly, he dines with aristocrats, he spends nights with millionaires and drug dealers alike. Everything he does is motivated by a single obsession: to become someone else. At once harrowing and profound, Change is not just a personal odyssey, a story of dreams and of "the beautiful violence of being torn away," but a vividly rendered portrait of a society divided by class, power, and inequality.

The celebrated debut novel from douard Louis: the "equal parts frank, provocative and compelling" (Financial Times) coming-of-age story about growing up gay in a working-class town in Picardy. "Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over again . . . Today I'm really gonna be a tough guy." Growing up in a poor village in northern France, all Eddy Bellegueule wanted was to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different--"girlish," intellectually precocious, and attracted to other men. Translated into more than twenty languages, The End of Eddy captures the violence and desperation of life in a French factory town. It is also a sensitive, universal portrait of boyhood and sexual awakening. Like Karl Ove Knausgaard or Edmund White, douard Louis writes from his own undisguised experience, but he writes with an openness and a compassionate intelligence that are all his own. The result--a critical and popular triumph--has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.

A gripping autobiographical novel from literary sensation douard Louis, "both brave and ambitious in its determination never to let its reader, or its author, escape lightly the damaging realities it describes" (The Observer). On Christmas Eve 2012, in Paris, douard Louis was raped and almost murdered by a man he had just met. This act of violence left Louis shattered; its aftermath made him a stranger to himself and sent him back to the village, the family, and the past he had sworn to leave behind. A bestseller in France, History of Violence is a short nonfiction novel in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, but with the victim as its subject. Moving seamlessly and hypnotically between past and present, between Louis's voice and the voice of an imagined narrator, History of Violence has the exactness of a police report and the searching, unflinching curiosity of memoir at its best. It records not only the casual racism and homophobia of French society but also their subtle effects on lovers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives. It represents a great step forward for a young writer whose acuity, skill, and depth are unmatched by any of his generation, in French or English.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, BBC, and Hudson Booksellers A New Yorker Recommended Read of the Year An autobiographical novel from douard Louis--"one of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation" (The Guardian)--about social class, transformation, and the perils of leaving the past behind. One question took center stage in my life, it focused all of my thoughts and occupied every moment when I was alone with myself: how could I get this revenge, by what means? I tried everything. douard Louis longs for a life beyond the poverty, discrimination, and violence in his working-class hometown--so he sets out for school in Amiens and, later, university in Paris. He sheds the provincial "Eddy" for an elegant new name, determined to eradicate every aspect of his past. He reads incessantly; he dines with aristocrats; he spends nights with millionaires and drug dealers alike. Everything he does is motivated by a single obsession: to become someone else. At once harrowing and profound, Change is not just a personal odyssey, a story of dreams and of "the beautiful violence of being torn away," but a profound portrait of a society divided by class, power, and inequality.

Long-listed for the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Barrios Book in Translation Prize douard Louis's bracing and honest memoir of his mother's liberation--a "poetic, tender, joyous" account (The Guardian). Late one night, douard Louis got a call from his forty-five-year-old mother: "I did it. I left your father." Suddenly, she was free. A Woman's Battles and Transformations is the searing and sympathetic story of one woman's escape: of mothers and sons, of history and heartbreak, of politics and power. It reckons with the cruel systems that govern our lives--and with the possibility of escape. Sharp, short, and fine as a needle, it is a necessary addition to the work of douard Louis, "one of France's most widely read and internationally successful novelists" (The New York Times Magazine).

An autobiographical novel about growing up gay in a working-class town in Picardy. "Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over again . . . Today I'm really gonna be a tough guy." Growing up in a poor village in northern France, all Eddy Bellegueule wanted was to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different--"girlish," intellectually precocious, and attracted to other men. Already translated into twenty-nine languages, The End of Eddy captures the violence and desperation of life in a French factory town. It is also a sensitive, universal portrait of boyhood and sexual awakening. Like Karl Ove Knausgaard or Edmund White, douard Louis writes from his own undisguised experience, but he writes with an openness and a compassionate intelligence that are all his own. The result--a critical and popular triumph--has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.

A Woman's Battles and Transformations is a portrait of the author's mother by the acclaimed writer of the international bestsellers The End of Eddy and History of Violence. One day, douard Louis finds a photograph of his mother from twenty years ago. A picture of a happy young woman full of hopes and dreams. Growing up, douard knew only his mother's sadness, as she found herself trapped in the humdrum life of a housewife, and her struggles against the dominant world of men. What happened in those years since the photo was taken? Then, at the age of forty-five, his mother frees herself from this oppression. She leaves her husband and her old life behind to start anew in Paris. A Woman's Battles and Transformations is douard Louis's most tender book yet. It reckons with the cruel systems that govern our lives, with politics and power--and with the possibility of escape. It is an exquisite and loving portrait of a mother, and an honoring of her self-discovery and liberation as she chooses to live on her own terms.

The major new novel from the once-in-a-generation author of The End of Eddy'One of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation’ Keiran Goddard, Guardian‘Change fills me with admiration and inspiration, as well as renewed faith in writing itself’ Maggie Nelson‘One of the major writers of our time' Garth Greenwell‘A mesmeric novel’ Daily MailÉdouard Louis longs for a life beyond the poverty, discrimination and violence in his working-class hometown - so he sets out to study in Amiens, and, later, at university in Paris. He sheds the provincial 'Eddy' for an elegant new name, determined to eradicate every aspect of his past. He reads incessantly; he dines with aristocrats; he spends nights with millionaires and drug dealers alike.Everything he does is motivated by a single obsession: to become someone else. Change is at once a personal odyssey, a story of dreams, friendship and the perils of leaving the past behind, and a profound portrait of a society divided by class, inequality and power.Translated by John Lambert

Monique Escapes opens with a telephone call between Édouard Louis and his mother, who reveals that her partner is an alcoholic and emotionally abusive. Her sadness and fear distresses Édouard, who is in Athens, although his vacant apartment immediately offers her somewhere to stay - and an escape route.Together, mother and son plot her next steps in what becomes a meditation on the price of liberty, the challenges involved in change, and the necessity of remaking their own relationship even as they work to free her from cycles of abuse. It is a work of remarkable emotional directness and a fascinating reflection on the interplay between life and art - and ultimately the story of an older women's reinvention as she starts a new life.