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About The Book

THE TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner of the August Prize for Fiction


Dazzlingly inventive, witty and mysterious: 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 dies in a car crash - accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. From friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait emerges of a loving son, reluctant bureaucrat, contrived poser, loyal friend. But who was Samuel really, and what happened to him? In filling out the contours of his existence, the writer grasps at a fundamental question: how do we account for the substance of a life?

'My books of the year [include] Jonas Hassen Khemiri's enigmatic novel' Joyce Carol Oates

Heartbreakingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny . . . Its chorus of drifters, romantics and cynics stick in the memory, each competing to tell their own truth’ Hari Kunzru

?'Unforgettable. In this non-putdownable puzzle of a story, Khemiri manages to both thrill and break your heart' Gary Shteyngart

'Khemiri's audacious and richly drawn novel pushes the boundaries of literary fiction . . . Beneath the structural pyrotechnics lies a broader story of imposition, appropriation and lack of individual agency: that of the immigrant experience' Lucy Scholes, The National

About The Author

Photograph (c) Martin Stenmark

Product Details

  • Publisher: Scribner UK (June 2, 2016)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471155093

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Raves and Reviews

‘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, author of Gods Without Men

'My books of the year [include] Jonas Hassen Khemiri's enigmatic novel Everything I Don't Remember'

– Joyce Carol Oates

'Unforgettable. In this non-putdownable puzzle of a story, Khemiri manages to both thrill and break your heart'

– Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

‘A wonderful and mysterious book. Close to a journalistic or criminal investigation, every sentence trembles with Khemeri’s electrifying prose. A very original tour de force that vibrated in my mind long after I had read the last page’

– Herman Koch, author of The Dinner

‘Khemiri’s fascinating puzzle of a book is a compelling examination of probity and perspective’

– Carys Bray, author of A Song for Issy Bradley

'Khemiri's audacious and richly drawn novel pushes the boundaries of literary fiction . . . Beneath [the] strutural pyrotechnics lies a broader story of imposition, appropriation and lack of individual agency: that of the immigrant experience'

– Lucy Scholes, The National

‘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, author of The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty

'Jonas Hassen Khemiri has crafted an enthralling jigsaw-puzzle of a book. Part love story, part reflection on loss, on memory, Everything I Don’t Remember is a smart, one-of-a-kind literary novel that is both beautiful and heartbreaking. This is storytelling at its best’

– Jennifer McMahon, New York Times-bestselling author of The Night Sister

'A wonderful exploration of human motivation. Khemiri writes with an acute sense of perspective and his clean, conceptual prose is gripping from start to finish'

– Nikita Lalwani, author of Gifted

'Multiple-award winning novelist and playwright Khemiri is revered in his native Sweden. This intelligent, sensitive book explains why'

– Big Issue

'Everything I Don’t Remember is an impressive piece of work, and one senses that the novel is exactly what Khemiri intended it to be, which is a feat in itself'

– New York Journal of Books

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