A stunning and poignant autobiographical look at the myriad
experiences that shape a meaningful life, by the bestselling author of
the Kurt Wallander mysteries.
**"Surely one of the most moving and intriguing farewell notes ever
written.... Intensely beautiful in its spirit." --Alexander McCall
Smith, New Statesman
**
In January 2014, Henning Mankell received a diagnosis of lung cancer.
Quicksand is a response to this shattering news--but it is not a
memoir of destruction. Instead, it is a testament to a life fully lived,
a tribute to the extraordinary but fleeting human journey that delivers
both boundless opportunity and crucial responsibility. In a series of
intimate vignettes, Mankell ranges over rich and varied reflections: of
growing up in a small Swedish town, where he experiences a startling
revelation on a winter morning as a young boy; of living hand-to-mouth
during a summer in Paris as an ambitious young writer; of his work at a
theater in Mozambique, where Lysistrata is staged in the midst of
civil war; of chance encounters with men and women who changed his
understanding of the world. Along the way, Mankell ponders the meaning
of a good life, and the critically important ways we can shape the
future of humanity if we are fortunate enough to have the choice. Vivid,
clear-eyed, and breathtakingly beautiful, Quicksand is an invaluable
parting gift from a great man.
