"A man, two women, talent, and a magnificient love story"
Le Figaro
“This magnificient novel is a lot more than a novel”
“This magnificient novel is a lot more than a novel”
PHILIPPE SOLLERS Le Nouvel Observateur
"Should the ladies wish to know what thoughts run through the mind of a contemporary man, they need only open this little guide of uncertainty and furtive delights"
"Should the ladies wish to know what thoughts run through the mind of a contemporary man, they need only open this little guide of uncertainty and furtive delights"
Madame Figaro
"This self-examination has finesse, relevance and courage in abundance"
"This self-examination has finesse, relevance and courage in abundance"
FREDERIC BEIGBEDER Technikart
“With I was behind you Nicolas Fargues has delivered a novel of great maturity. And this is due as much to his mastery of writing as to the treatment of his subject”
“With I was behind you Nicolas Fargues has delivered a novel of great maturity. And this is due as much to his mastery of writing as to the treatment of his subject”
Le Monde
ABOUT THE BOOK
Here is a story of self-discovery, entering adulthood and freeing oneself. The tone is sarcastic, lucid, cruel yet realistic. On a background of R&B and electronic music, Nicolas Fargues gives us an impressive and subtle account of gender relations and examining the choices one has made in the past.
"Ero dietro di te: you know what that means in English? It means I was behind you. She was actually sitting at a table behind us for the entire meal and she spent the whole time watching me without me realising. It’s funny, but I’m starting to think that it wouldn’t be stretching it to read something really symbolic into that phrase. It could also mean: 'For all this time, all these years, I’ve been right behind you, as close as can be, and you didn’t notice me. It’s obvious you and I were meant to be together, but we screwed it up every time. Still, I’m right here, right now, and I want you to know it, the ball’s in your court, you won’t be able to say no one told you and complain you let the chance of a lifetime slip through your fingers.' See what I mean?"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicolas Fargues was born in 1972. He spent his childhood in Cameroun then Lebanon and Corsica, and studied at the Sorbonne where he completed a thesis on the Egyptian writer Georges Henein. He directed the Alliance Française of Diego-Suarez in Madagascar for two years before returning to France. He is the recipient of the Prix Vaudeville for his novel Beau Role, one of his five novels published. I Was Behind You has been translated into sixteen languages and the film rights are under option with a star cast. He now lives and works in Paris.
Translated from the French by Sue Rose
ISBN 978 1 906548 05 6
192pp
