Réussir sa vie

They live in Gennevilliers, Asnières or Nanterre. They are 23, 39 or 56 years old. Drifting youth, cashier, barman, immigrant without papers, they are unemployed or they earn the minimum salary or moonlight; here, they talk about their private and professional life, the setbacks and the hopes. Instability, small jobs, small time trafficking, depression, divorce... When you are young, you don't know what life will be like. Should we bury our childhood dreams in order to find a place in society?
Who are these characters talking to? A potential employer, a temping agency representative, a psychologist or the prime ministre? Bruno Gibert offers us tales that are both unique and universal. Because Tonino or Nicole, at this point in their life story, reflect our own ways of dealing with the world. At the same time, the repetitive discourse on success, with its recipes, acts as a foil, reminding us of our duty to perform and be fulfilled. Better than an essay, Réussir sa vie shows the gaps and silent sufferings that split our society. This is a provocative novel, which unusual style and structure constructs a compelling critique of the myth of individual success. Bruno Gibert was born in Vincennes in 1961. He is a children book artist. Following Claude (2000), which was awarded the prize for best first novel, he has published Les Écrivains (2002), Le sol de Mars (2003) and Juste né (2005) at Stock.