Ia Genberg

An acclaimed Swedish author makes her English language debut with this intoxicating novel in the vein of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti, about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, her memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature rises. A woman lies bedridden from a high fever. Suddenly she is struck with an urge to revisit a novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from Johanna, an ex-girlfriend who is now a famous television host. As she flips through the book, pages from the woman's own past begin to come alive, scenes of events and people she cannot forget. There are moments with Johanna, and Niki, the friend who disappeared years ago without a phone number or an address and with no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who gleefully campaigns for a baby even though he knows their love has no future. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities mask a painful secret. The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.

A Novel

The Details

Detaljerna

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024 WINNER OF THE AUGUST PRIZE 2022 (BEST FICTION) '[A] miraculous sort of novel' Hernan Diaz, author of TRUST 'I wish I could write like this' Fredrik Backman, author of A MAN CALLED OVE 'Mesmerizing and hot to the touch' Catherine Lacey, NEW YORK TIMES 'Textured insights into human nature' THE NEW YORKER A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety. In the throes of a high fever, a woman lies bedridden. Suddenly, she is struck with an urge to revisit a particular novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a message from an ex-girlfriend. Pages from her past begin to flip, full of things she cannot forget and people who cannot be forgotten. Johanna, that same ex-girlfriend, now a famous TV host. Niki, the friend who disappeared all those years ago. Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Birgitte, whose elusive qualities shield a painful secret. Who is the real subject of a portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? The Details is a novel built around four such portraits, unveiling the fragments of memory and experience that make up a life. In exhilarating, provocative prose, Ia Genberg reveals an intimate and powerful celebration of what it means to be human. MORE PRAISE FOR THE DETAILS: 'A novel that, through its very bones, encapsulates one of the most important ideas of our current political moment - the necessity of connection, and our vulnerability to one other' Susannah Dickey, author of TENNIS LESSONS 'A woozy, affecting dive into desire, domination and memory' FINANCIAL TIMES 'An ode to the different kinds of love that form us . . . I won't forget this beautiful book' Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCE 'A fever dream . . . A feat of characterization, a triumph of lending language and profundity to observations of daily life' LITERARY HUB

Longlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize

Kira Josefsson

The Intoxicating International Bestseller

Details

Small Comfort

Szczegóły

roman

Detaljerne

Kira Josefsson (Translator)

WINNER OF THE AUGUST PRIZE 2022 (BEST FICTION) WINNER OF THE AFTONBLADET LITERARY PRIZE 2022A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety.In the throes of a high fever, a woman lies bedridden. Suddenly, she is struck with an urge to revisit a particular novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from an ex-girlfriend.Pages from her past begin to flip, full of things she cannot forget and people who cannot be forgotten. Johanna, that same ex-girlfriend who introduced her to Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy, now a famous TV host in Sweden. Niki, the friend who disappeared all those years ago without a phone number or an address and has no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities shield a painful secret.Who is the real subject of a portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? The Details is a novel built around four such portraits, unveiling the fragments of memory and experience that make up a life. In exhilarating, provocative prose, Ia Genberg reveals an intimate and powerful celebration of what it means to be human.

The International Bestseller

Featured in The New Yorker's "Best Books of 2023" *Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize "The literal fever that begins the book mirrors the feverish beginnings and endings of these relationships, as well as the fever of reading -- how it forces the reader inward, then leaves an invisible imprint in its wake. Genberg's marvelous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch." -The New York Times Book Review An intoxicating novel in the vein of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti, about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, her memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature rises. A woman lies bedridden from a high fever. Suddenly she is struck with an urge to revisit a novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from Johanna, an ex-girlfriend who is now a famous television host. As she flips through the book, pages from the woman's own past begin to come alive, scenes of events and people she cannot forget. There are moments with Johanna, and Niki, the friend who disappeared years ago without a phone number or an address and with no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities mask a painful secret. The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.

Featured in The New Yorker's "Best Books of 2023" *Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize "The literal fever that begins the book mirrors the feverish beginnings and endings of these relationships, as well as the fever of reading — how it forces the reader inward, then leaves an invisible imprint in its wake. Genberg’s marvelous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch.” -The New York Times Book Review An intoxicating novel in the vein of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti, about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, her memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature rises. A woman lies bedridden from a high fever. Suddenly she is struck with an urge to revisit a novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from Johanna, an ex-girlfriend who is now a famous television host. As she flips through the book, pages from the woman’s own past begin to come alive, scenes of events and people she cannot forget. There are moments with Johanna, and Niki, the friend who disappeared years ago without a phone number or an address and with no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities mask a painful secret. The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.

A NEW NOVEL FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR BEHIND THE DETAILS (SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024) Praise for THE DETAILS: '[A] miraculous sort of novel' Hernan Diaz, author of TRUST 'I wish I could write like this' Fredrik Backman, author of A MAN CALLED OVE 'Mesmerizing and hot to the touch' Catherine Lacey, NEW YORK TIMES 'Textured insights into human nature' THE NEW YORKER 'Wistfully recalls a time when what was lost stayed lost' THE TIMES 'Encapsulates one of the most important ideas of our current political moment - the necessity of connection, and our vulnerability to one other' Susannah Dickey, author of TENNIS LESSONS 'A woozy, affecting dive into desire, domination and memory' FINANCIAL TIMES 'An ode to the different kinds of love that form us . . . I won't forget this beautiful book' Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCE 'A fever dream . . . A feat of characterization, a triumph of lending language and profundity to observations of daily life' LITERARY HUB

Ia Genberg

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