Second Best

Product Information

It also shows, more generally, what happens when a society is subject to the endless Instagram audition, the tyranny of the sight of other people’s happiness . Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall). Foenkinos’s smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, loss and how the lives we wish we’d led might not be all they’re cracked up to be . be ‘An inventive novel about rebuilding after failure, no matter how powerful or vast it may be’ actualitte. Foenkinos’s] sensitive and empathetic handling of the theme of the also-ran is as instructive as it is entertaining’ Irish Times ‘A brilliant concept for a novel’ Sunday Times ‘Foenkinos has had a gem of an idea .

A magical imagining of the fate of a fictional boy whose life is shaped forever when he loses out on the role of Harry Potter.

Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. A genealogy of the haphazard decisions and coincidences that align to create a life, Second Best is a bittersweet novel exploring what it means to live through failure.

Imbuing this slim novel with its gentle, melancholic beauty is a sense of the grandness of small things. a playful blend of fact and fiction’ The Telegraph ‘Foenkinos’s surreal yet relatable novel, a French bestseller, considers life in our age of anxiety, when other people’s picture-perfect lives make our own seem drab in comparison’ Washington Post, 10 Noteworthy Books for September ‘It’s about time British readers discovered the wit and originality of David Foenkinos, and this exquisitely bittersweet comedy of life’s missed opportunities is the perfect place to start’ Jonathan Coe, author of Bournville ‘It doesn’t get more captivating than this’ Elle ‘Funny and melancholy, cruel and dramatic’ Le Figaro Littéraire ‘David Foenkinos turns a genius idea into an absorbing novel’ La Croix ‘A sensitive and kind meditation on coming back from failure’ Le Parisien ‘A lively, sharp, playful tale’ L’Obs ‘Peppered with empathy, emotion and humour’ rtbf. Foenkinos’ smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, loss and how the lives we wish we’d led might not be all they’re cracked up to be . An elegant, irresistibly farcical comic mystery based around a library of rejected manuscripts, Foenkinos' playful satire is the perfect feelgood read. Its sentences are wise, humorous, incisive, and simple; they add up to an engrossing reading experience.The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Every line has something profound to say about love and loss, hope and fear, time and memory, and the enduring power of art' Andrew Michael Hurley, author of The Loney.