Scheisskerle

A book about a son and his fathers: I once had seven fathers in seven years. This is the story of that time. If anything sounds made up, you can be sure it’s true. Christmas 1983, in a house in the Swedish woods. While the snow falls outside and a little boy waits for Santa Claus, a violent confrontation occurs inside, leading to a secret slipping out from the mother. On that day, the seven-year-old boy named Andrev learns that his father is not his real father. He lives in a faraway land and has long black hair. Like an Indian, the mother says, pointing to her elbow to make sure the boy understands. The boy's heart leaps with joy. This is the best thing he has ever heard. It feels to him like he is a boy in a book about a boy who has just learned that his father is the king of a mysterious realm. It feels to him that soon a good spirit will come to take him there. But that is not the case. No good spirit will come, only new fathers who are not his. Andrev Walden's celebrated debut novel is a wild story about growing up during the '68 movement, about mothers who kiss these guys and smoke under the hood, about love, how it begins and how it ends, about a scalped hamster and the hint of a miracle, but above all, it is a story about men.