A Man's Place

Name: A Man's Place
Brand: Allen & Unwin
SKU: 9781913097363
Price: 27.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Annie Ernaux

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3.87

( 38,724 ratings, 4,544 reviews)

Summary

A Man's Place is Annie Ernaux's poignant memoir exploring the complex relationship with her father, who died shortly after she qualified as a teacher. Through a detached and unsentimental lens, Ernaux traces his life from humble rural origins to managing a grocery store and cafe, revealing the profound shame and struggle shaped by his limited education and social standing. The narrative captures the evolving dynamic between father and daughter, as Ernaux emerges as a keen observer of social class and identity, while her father embodies a practical acceptance of life and a reserved admiration for her achievements.
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Format: Paperback / softback

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A Man's Place

$27⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This memoir will resonate with readers interested in social history, family dynamics, class struggles, and introspective, literary biographies. It suits those who appreciate unsentimental and thought-provoking explorations of personal and societal change.

Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labour, Ernaux’s father had grown into a hard, practical man who showed his family little affection. Narrating his slow ascent towards material comfort, Ernaux’s cold observation in A Man’s Place reveals the shame that haunted her father throughout his life.

Description

Annie Ernaux's father died exactly two months after she passed her exams for a teaching certificate. Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labour, Ernaux's father had grown into a hard, practical man who showed his family little affection. Narrating his slow ascent towards material comfort, Ernaux's cold observation in A Man's Place reveals the shame that haunted her father throughout his life.

She scrutinizes the importance he attributed to manners and language that came so unnaturally to him as he struggled to provide for his family with a grocery store and cafe in rural France. Over the course of the book, Ernaux grows up to become the uncompromising observer now familiar to the world, while her father matures into old age with a staid appreciation for life as it is and for a daughter he cautiously, even reluctantly admires.

'Ernaux has inherited de Beauvoir's role of chronicler to a generation.' - Margaret Drabble

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Ernaux for her unsentimental and incisive storytelling. Frances Wilson of the Telegraph highlights that Ernaux transcends typical memoir, portraying herself as an emblematic figure caught in the historical process of social class change. Mia Colleran of the Irish Times commends the book as both a biography bound by class and a reflective inquiry into the art of life writing. Ernaux's portrayal of parental relationships is noted as both a form of betrayal and a compelling exploration of social and familial tensions.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781913097363

Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 October 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Contributors:

Translated by Tanya Leslie
Translated by Tanya Leslie

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 125.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 80

Collections

Annie Ernaux Biography & Memoir Non-Fiction

About the Author

Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and later taught at secondary school. From 1977 to 2000, she was a professor at the Centre National d'Enseignement par Correspondance. Her books, in particular A Man's Place and A Woman's Story, have become contemporary classics in France. The Years won the Prix Renaudot in France in 2008, the Premio Strega in Italy in 2016, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2019. In 2017, Annie Ernaux was awarded the Marguerite Yourcenar Prize for her life's work.