A woman on vacation is surprised when she finds out she is pregnant. With a man who is not her boyfriend, someone whose name she cannot remember.
A man has a family and a good job. But one day, his body stops working. He falls out of his own life, and into David Bowie’s music.
A man in a black overall is on his way to a stranger’s house. He prefers visiting people when their children is not at home.
The short stories in Kids Now revolve around children. Longing for children, raising children, having sex without thinking of children, being children and being grown-ups living without children. In this collection of short stories you will find intimacy, secrecy, sadness, comedy and violence.
Praise for Kids Now:
“The story about David Bowie is not the only story that shines in this book … one of the best tributes to this musician this year. The tempo of the text is contrasted with the lack of energy usually associated with a person on sick leave, making “A Grown-up Man” into one of the most powerful texts of this collection. But the book has other strong stories too … [In “Lombnes, Susanne”] Nummedal shows his sensitivity to detail … In his first short story collection, the author proves his complete mastery of this sophisticated genre … there is tempo and energy in these texts”
****** (5/6 stars)
Bergens Tidende
“Few characters, precise descriptions of surroundings and actions, suggestive details, suppressed emotions. These are standard ingredients in the Askildsen-inspired short story writer’s toolbox, and Nummedal masters them unusually well, considering the fact that this is his first collection of stories. But the two most interesting stories in this book, are those that move the furthest away from Askildsen’s long shadow … Nummedal deserves praise for sticking his neck out, for taking such high risks, and also for landing so steadily. KIDS NOW is a solidly executed and formally elegant collection of short stories, whose high point, “A Grown-up Man”, pushes the boundaries for what can be done within this format.”
Litkritikk.no
