Jan Grue

I Live a Life Like Yours

Jeg lever et liv som ligner deres

Into the unknown: we don’t know where we’re going. We are sailing in a leaky boat; we know that we’re dying animals. With dreams of Byzantium, we bail out as much water as we can, sailing onward, together. We are Argonauts, astronauts, adventurers, explorers. This is our journey.

I have a congenital muscular dystrophy. I use a wheelchair. I have a college education, a job. I’m a family man. On the surface, I’m well-off. What had to happen for me to reach this point?

I Live a Life Like Yours is about life in a vulnerable body. It is a story about work, about dreams and a longing to live like everyone else. It is a book about life, both common and uncommon.

Winner of the 2018 Norwegian Critics’ Prize
Nominated for the the 2019 Nordic Council Literature Prize

“A masterpiece of own life.”

Stavanger Aftenblad, 6 out of 6 stars

“A literary masterpiece that is highly recommended!”

Dagbladet, 6 out of 6 stars

“Jan Grue’s description of life goes beyond most of the Norwegian self-biographical non-fiction. (…) The book will probably stand as a milestone marking that a new maturity is about to reach the autobiographical literature also in Norwegian non-fiction.”

Morgenbladet
Photo: Rolf M. Aagaard

Jan Grue (b. 1981) is a Norwegian writer of short stories and childrens books and a Professor of Qualitative Methods at the University of Oslo.

He made his literary debut in 2010 with the short story collection Everything Under Control, which received great reviews. He has since published two more collections of short stories, as well as a picture book for children, Oliver, and an analysis of how physically disabled people are portrayed in our culture. In 2013 his first three short story collections were published in a single volume edition.

He has studied film and linguistics and has a PhD in linguistics from the University of Oslo. He has been a columnist and book-reviewer for the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen and has published articles i various newspapers and periodicals.