A mischievous, witty book of short stories undressing contemporary society
One of France’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Goncourt, is awarded each year to works published in French in five separate categories, from novels to poetry. This month, the 2023 Prix Goncourt for a book of short stories went to David Thomas for Partout les autres, a collection of quick-fire microfictions that mirror societal issues. In this review, Quentin Margne, from the French literary journal En attendant Nadeau, enthuses over Thomas’s mischievousness and wit, making fun of his contemporaries while raising profound questions, accomplished with art and subtlety.
InIn a movement of both lightness and rapidity, David Thomas links together scattered fragments of people’s lives, those of love, of friendship and work, and which result in a pile-up of consequences. He presents moments of epiphany, of a hundred encounters, creating a profusion of décors and scenes, and also of emotions and dramatic tensions.
