On Failure
ORIGINAL TITLE: Om att misslyckas
NUMBER OF PAGES: 160
AUTHOR: Peter Englund
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: Natur & Kultur
GENRE: Current Books, Non-fiction
In a world obsessed with success, total failure is one of the worst fates imaginable. In this book, Peter Englund explores how spectacular triumph can end in spectacular disaster: in crashed technologies or ruined careers, failed expeditions or unsuccessful books, collapsed civilizations or crippled spacecraft. This personal, original, and unpredictable essay, driven by curiosity across a wide range of human endeavors and historical eras, sets out to discover whether there is anything that characterizes all these fiascos—perhaps even something that unites them.
Reviews
“It is excellent and highly entertaining essay writing, written in prose that has a charming aversion to Anglicisms.”
Dagens Nyheter
“A memorable and — yes, unusually successful book about all the ways in which we poor human beings can fail.” (…) “By turns moving, enlightening, and entertaining.”
Svenska Dagbladet
“The text moves effortlessly between alpine expeditions and literary experiments, from astronauts to fashion designers and homicide detectives, all of whom have in common that they have been lost in this abyss.”
Expressen
“On Failure offers a new (to me) way of conveying knowledge and insight. I am prompted to reflect on failures — how and why they occur, what they mean. But I am spared having to compare my reflections with the author’s instructions about what I am expected to understand. Englund refrains from giving me such directions. He allows the image to emerge freely in my mind, like an artist.” (…) “Courageous, but above all, masterful. Englund leaves you wanting more.”
Göteborgs-Posten
“Reading Englund is pure hedonistic pleasure. The mood is buoyant, and in addition to being an unsurpassed stylist, he laces his prose with humorous, laconic observations.” (…) “Peter Englund’s book on failure is the funniest book of the autumn!”
Sydsvenskan
“Fascinating, enlightening, and highly readable.”
Socialpolitik
“Peter Englund skillfully lays out his threads and weaves them together. As always, the author’s prose is rich with learning, yet carried with effortless lightness.”
Nerikes Allehanda
“In his latest book, On Failure, Englund appears to be repeating the formula for success: he writes about historical failures and succeeds brilliantly in earning the reader’s trust.”
FOKUS
”It is a strangely beautiful book about the human capacity for stubbornness—often fatal, yet nonetheless admirable.”
KULT