Man's Place

Annie Ernaux's father died two months after she passed her exams for a teaching certificate. Her cold observation in "A Man's Place" reveals the shame that haunted him throughout his life. She scrutinizes the importance he attributed to manners and language as he struggled to provide for his family. Ernaux grows up to become the uncompromising observer, while her father matures into old age with a staid appreciation for life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 80 pages
Publication date: 28 October 2020
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Annie Ernaux's father tragically passed away just two months after she successfully completed her exams for a teaching certificate. Born into a life of limited education and often viewed solely as a source of labor, Ernaux's father had evolved into a stern, practical individual who displayed little affection towards his family. In her memoir, A Man's Place, Ernaux offers a cold and detached account of her father's gradual ascent towards material comfort. Through her meticulous observation, she uncovers the deep-seated shame that haunted her father throughout his life. Ernaux delves into the significance her father attached to manners and language, which felt unnatural to him as he struggled to provide for his family by running a grocery store and cafe in rural France. Throughout the book, Ernaux matures into the uncompromising observer who has become familiar to the world. At the same time, her father grows old, embracing life as it is with a reserved appreciation for his daughter, whom he cautiously admires, even if it is reluctantly.

Weight: 122g
Dimension: 128 x 195 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781913097363