We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live

"Forcing losers to display genuine generosity - that is, generosity with a price - was like hitting up the destitute for charitable donations. A good sport was a considerate liar, who succesfully disguised his every true emotion and so spared one and all the medical unpleasantness of his intestinal cramps, the obscenities in his head, the spasms of his heart. How much would it have cost Eric and that handful of onlockers to forgive a brief display of pique and a few well-earned profanities? The graciousness exacted from the also-ran was a travesty for losers everywhere, who deserved emancipation as much as the wheelchair-bound or overweight. As Edsel had emphasized, the world was dense with losers. How many comers climbed to the pinnacles of their professions? The vast majority foundered, so why was there no spokesman for the second-rate, the runner-up, the penultimate, the huge disheartened horde? Would no one defend their right to hurl their rackets? All the way home on the PATH train, Willy knew she was supposed to apologize. Her refusal was a political statement."

ur Double Fault av Lionel Shriver.


Double Fault kommer ut på svenska i höst (svensk titel: Dubbelfel). Den handlar om kvinnligt loserkomplex och the downward spiral. Så jävla bra, så ända in i benmärgen fantastisk är den! Jag har nog aldrig identifierat mig så benhårt med en romangestalt som jag gjorde med Willy. ÅH WILLY!

Okej okej, visserligen har jag hittills inte stött på en enda människa, bortsett från mig själv, som läst den och faktiskt sagt att de gillade den (de flesta som läst We need to talk about Kevin verkar snarare bli besvikna när de läser Double fault), men ni är säkert smarta människor som kommer att inse den här romanens storhet. Läs läs läs! (Eller läs den inte, förresten, ni kommer inte att gilla den. Men den ÄR bra. 4real.)



Lionel is my homegirl. Kan man få det på en tischa?