Rebecca is in her fifties, a beautiful and successful actress past the peak of her career. Oscar is 35, a moderately well-known author who spends his time listening to rap music and trying to write a new novel. They were both nursed on the idea of the tortured artist and are experts in drug addiction, but they feel they may have to change their habits.
Zoé is a feminist in her late twenties. She wants neither to forgive nor to forget. She is addicted to social media, and that is where she spends all her time.
The three of them are not reliable. They are loud, opinionated and vulnerable. Until a friendship falls upon them and forces them to lay down their arms.
A book of rage, anger and acceptance, Dear Dickhead presents a gallery of broken human beings dealing with their anguish and addiction as best they can. Like all books by Virginie Despentes, this is a text that, due to its strong essayistic dimension, faithfully captures the heart of an era.
Translated from the French by Frank Wynne
Über den Autor Despentes Virginie
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VIRGINIE DESPENTES is a writer and filmmaker. Her first novel, Baise-Moi was published in 1992 and adapted for film in 2000. She is the author of over fifteen further novels, including Apocalypse Baby (2010) and Bye Bye Blondie (2004), and the autobiographical work, King Kong Theory (2006). She won the Prix de Flore in 1998 forLes Jolies Choses, the 2010 Prix Renaudot for Apocalypse Baby and Vernon Subutex One won the Prix Anaïs Nin in 2015, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International in 2018.Frank Wynne is an award-winning writer and translator. His previous translations include works by Virginie Despentes, Javier Cercas, Mathias Énard, Michel Houllebecq and Pierre Lemaitre. He chaired the jury of the 2022 Booker International. Most recently his translation of The Art of Losing won the 2022 Dublin Literary Award.
