Dear Dickhead
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Virginie Despentes, the celebrated author of King Kong Theory, has written her breakthrough book: a Dangerous Liaisons for our time. We follow Rebecca and Oscar as they develop an unlikely friendship and argue over questions of right and wrong in a city—Paris—where pleasure, excess, and freedom rule the day, or used to. Dear Dickhead is a guns-blazing novel about a culture that makes men and women sick, and about how the search for feeling leaves us addicted to what makes us feel. The result is a provocative and unmissable book from the author hailed by The Guardian as France’s “rock and roll Zola.”
Original title in French Cher connard, published by Grasset (2022)
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Frank
Wynne
Frank Wynne is a literary translator. Born in Ireland, he moved to France in 1984 where he discovered a passion for language. He began translating literature in the 1990s. He has translated works by, among others, Michel Houellebecq, Frédéric Beigbeder, Ahmadou Kourouma, Boualem Sansal, Claude Lanzmann, Tómas Eloy Martínez and Almudena Grandes. His work has earned him a number of awards, including the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán. Most recently, his translation of Vernon Subutex was shortlisted for the Man Booker International 2018. Wynne translatedThe Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter which won the Dublin Literary Award 2022.
Frank Wynne is a literary translator. Born in Ireland, he moved to France in 1984 where he discovered a passion for language. He began translating literature in the 1990s. He has translated works by, among others, Michel Houellebecq, Frédéric Beigbeder, Ahmadou Kourouma, Boualem Sansal, Claude Lanzmann, Tómas Eloy Martínez and Almudena Grandes. His work has earned him a number of awards, including the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán. Most recently, his translation of Vernon Subutex was shortlisted for the Man Booker International 2018. Wynne translatedThe Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter which won the Dublin Literary Award 2022.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Autrice française emblématique de notre époque Virginie Despentes, s’attaque sur fond de #METOO, aux thèmes du moment, tout en gardant son sujet de prédilection: l’amitié entre personnes à la dérive…. Mais dans ce roman le thème principal est l’addiction: à l’alcool, aux drogues, à la gloire, à la beauté, et à la communication intempestive sur les réseaux sociaux. C’est d’ailleurs par ce biais que les 3 personnages principaux vont établir une communication régulière. Féminisme, réseaux sociaux, patriarcat, médias, monde littéraire, consommation, famille, substances légales et illicites : impossible d’énumérer toutes les thématiques abordées via cette correspondance éminemment moderne, qui jette un coup de projecteur sans concession sur les maux du monde 2.0.
Virginie Despentes, an iconic French author of our time, tackles current issues against the backdrop of #METOO, while sticking to her favourite subject: friendship between people who are adrift… But in this novel, the main theme is addiction: to alcohol, drugs, fame, beauty, and excessive communication on social media. It is through this medium that the three main characters establish regular communication. Feminism, social media, patriarchy, the media, the literary world, consumerism, family, legal and illegal substances: it is impossible to list all the themes addressed in this eminently modern correspondence, which shines an uncompromising spotlight on the ills of the 2.0 world. (Mediathèque de la Grande Garenne)