Back in the Day
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Ivor and Marco have been getting high since they were thirteen, started dealing at fourteen, by fifteen they were carrying knives. At sixteen years old, they hurtle from one trip to the next, one fight to the next, always watching their backs. Ivor dreams of getting out – finishing school, becoming a lawyer, marrying the girl he loves from the corner shop – but the path he’s on only leads one way.
In flashes of firecracker prose, shot through with rare empathy, irrepressible wit and gut-punch pathos, Oliver Lovrenski gives voice to young men growing up in a brutal and chaotic world.
Original title in Norwegian Da vi var yngre, published by Aschehoug & Co (2023)
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Nichola
Smalley
Nichola Smalley is a translator of Swedish and Norwegian literature. In 2021, she won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize for her translation of Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, and her work has also been nominated for the International Booker, Bernard Shaw and Warwick Prizes. She is a Translators Association committee member, a Bookseller Rising Star 2021 and worked for several years for the independent publisher And Other Stories. She has a PhD in the use of slang in contemporary Swedish and English literature, and currently lives in London.
Nichola Smalley is a translator of Swedish and Norwegian literature. In 2021, she won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize for her translation of Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, and her work has also been nominated for the International Booker, Bernard Shaw and Warwick Prizes. She is a Translators Association committee member, a Bookseller Rising Star 2021 and worked for several years for the independent publisher And Other Stories. She has a PhD in the use of slang in contemporary Swedish and English literature, and currently lives in London.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Back in the day is an unusual debut novel. It is rumored that Lovrenski wrote parts of the book on his smartphone. The novel is about 4 young men coming of age on the deprived outskirts of Oslo. Ivor, the storyteller, had in mind to become a laywer when he was a boy. As a juvenile he dreams of marrying the girl from the corner shop. But the path he’s on as a criminal only leads one way. The writing style is both, equally brutal and soulful. The young author gave a touching insight to a new lost generation of young men who lack of role models and equal opportunities. (Leipziger Städtische Bibliotheken)