The Eskimo Solution: Shocking, hilarious and poignant noir

by Pascal Garnier, Emily Boyce (Translator), Jane Aitken (Translator)

Overview

In The Eskimo Solution, the 'slyly funny' [Sunday Times] Pascal Garnier brings us a story of a writer whose imagination begins to seep into his real life.

'A gem' The Globe and Mail

Life imitates art in Pascal Garnier's offbeat tale of a crime writer and the murderous protagonist of his novel.

A crime writer uses the modest advance on his latest novel to rent a house on the Normandy coast. There should be little to distract him from his work besides walks on the windswept beach, but as he begins to tell the tale of forty-something Louis who, after dispatching his own mother, goes on to relieve others of their burdensome elderly relations events in his own life begin to overlap with the work of his imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781910477229
Publisher:	Gallic Books Limited
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Pascal Garnier, who died in March 2010, was a talented novelist, short story writer, children’s author and painter. From his home in the mountains of the Ardèche, he wrote fiction in a noir palette with a cast of characters drawn from ordinary provincial life. Though his writing is often very dark in tone, it sparkles with quirkily beautiful imagery and dry wit. Garnier’s work has been likened to the great thriller writer, Georges Simenon.

Emily Boyce is a translator and editor. She was shortlisted for the French Book Office New Talent in Translation Award in 2008, the French-American Translation Prize in 2016, and the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 2021. She lives in London.  

Editorial Reviews

'This elegant little novel is a gem (...) It's short, sleek, beautifully written and well translated. I'm hunting for more Garnier books. You will, too' The Globe and Mail

'Bleak, funny, unpredictable, The Eskimo Solution is tremendously enjoyable' Book Glutton

'A bizarrely addictive and screwball read' Little Bookness Lane

'The Eskimo Solution is a good, enjoyable read — and probably a good introduction to Garier's work' The Complete Review

'If you're a Garnier fan as I am (and this is novel number 9) you won't be able to resist The Eskimo Solution' His Futile Preoccupations

'It's fun to inhabit such a powerful mental atmosphere, however dark it may be, when it's created with originality and style. It certainly is with Garnier, whose books start off seeming simple, then sneak up on you. They remind me of those expensive dark chocolates that are 90 percent cacao. They can be quite bitter, but once you get used to the taste, you wouldn't want them any sweeter' NPR / Fresh Air with Terry Gross

'Once again Pascal Garnier authors a very dark and gripping French middle class tragedy that as always provides insight into the downside of human relationships'
Midwest Book Review

'He slowly peels back the layers of an individual's character and shows that no one is easily known' Booksie’s Blog

'Garnier is convincing in his portrayal of how two seemingly-normal, somewhat functional people combine and fuse into murderous, toxic, self-destructive isolation' Swiftly Tilting Planet/His Futile Preoccupations

'a grim and oddly funny entertainment for readers' The Canadian National Post
'Garnier is one of the few French writers interested in the same human landscapes that, mutatis mutandis, interested Raymond Carver in the United States' The Arts Fuse  

From the Publisher