Everything I Don't Remember by Jonas Hassen Khemiri
Dazzling, inventive, witty: a writer pieces together the story of a young man's death in an exhilarating narrative puzzle reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial
A young man called Samuel dies, but was it an accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. Through conversations with friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poser. The young man who would do anything for his girlfriend Laide and share everything with his friend Vandad. Until Vandad, marginalised and broke, desperate to get closer to Samuel, drives a wedge between the friends, and Samuel loses them both.
Everything I Don't Remember is an enthralling tale of love and memory. It is also the story of a writer who, in filling out the contours of Samuel's life, is trying to grasp a universal truth - in the end, how do we account for the substance of a life?
'Heartbreakingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny . . . Khemiri's wry, sharply observed tales of post-9/11 Swedish life have a huge following. This novel's chorus of drifters, romantics and cynics stick in the memory, each competing to tell their own truth' Hari Kunzru
'With its energetic prose and innovative structure, Everything I Don't Remember confirms that Jonas Hassen Khemiri is not only one of Sweden's best authors, but a great talent of our time' Vendela Vida
A young man called Samuel dies, but was it an accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. Through conversations with friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poser. The young man who would do anything for his girlfriend Laide and share everything with his friend Vandad. Until Vandad, marginalised and broke, desperate to get closer to Samuel, drives a wedge between the friends, and Samuel loses them both.
Everything I Don't Remember is an enthralling tale of love and memory. It is also the story of a writer who, in filling out the contours of Samuel's life, is trying to grasp a universal truth - in the end, how do we account for the substance of a life?
'Heartbreakingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny . . . Khemiri's wry, sharply observed tales of post-9/11 Swedish life have a huge following. This novel's chorus of drifters, romantics and cynics stick in the memory, each competing to tell their own truth' Hari Kunzru
'With its energetic prose and innovative structure, Everything I Don't Remember confirms that Jonas Hassen Khemiri is not only one of Sweden's best authors, but a great talent of our time' Vendela Vida