Kyrre Andreassen

Not People I can Depend on

Ikke mennesker jeg kan regne med

One day, after twenty years of marriage, Svein stood in front of the microwave and declared he no longer had feelings for me. It was 2014, and he probably still thinks I never gave him enough love and that’s why the relationship ended. More people probably believe his version than mine, too, but that’s because his sphere of influence has been bigger: There’s much more traffic at Autopartner than at the municipal office.

Not People I Can Depend On is about Linda Hansen, a mother of two and a municipal employee. It’s a novel about realizing that your husband is chasing after Veronika Hagen, the only woman in the village with a modicum of glamor. It’s a book about pride, shame — and a growing desire for revenge.

‘[…] a novel worth the wait. With it, Kyrre Andreassen achieves the magical thing that literature can do at its best: It makes us who read it reflect upon our own lives.’

NRK

‘There is something liberating to it when Andreassen breathes life into the little devil that reside within many of us.’

Vårt Land

‘Bitter, furious and exceedingly funny novel from Kyrre Andreassen.’

Dagens Næringsliv

‘[Andreassen’s] characteristic style is just as energetic in this year’s novel. With a wonderful, exuberant vocabulary, Andreassen gorges in the flaws of people and small-town communities. He takes the pulse of Norwegian everyday life with stylistic elegance.’

Aftenposten
Photo: Trude Rønnestad

Kyrre Andreassen (b. 1971) debuted in 1997 with the short story collection This Is Where You Have Your Friends. Andreassen has an MA from the University of Oslo. His second book, Barringer (1999), was nominated for the Brage Prize (Brageprisen) for best novel. In 2006, his novel Svendsen’s Catering earned him the Linguistic Society’s Literature Prize (Språklig samlings litteraturpris), and in 2007, he received the Hunger Prize (Sultprisen) for his authorship. His novel Furthermore, I Believe Carthage Must be Destroyed (2016) was also nominated for the Brage Prize.