Around eight o’clock, we were in Dan’s rusty old jalopy, driving like madmen, listening to NOFX with the windows rolled down to try to get some air despite the heat that was still holding on in the early evening… and also so that other people could enjoy the music too, so that just once in their boring little lives, they could hear some good music, if only for a second or two.

Loin d’être malheureux is about young men, some are juvenile, others disillusioned. We tag along for a few moments in their existence; they’ve often just been through a break-up, and some of them are coping better than others. All the stories are set in the present day. These lively texts (short stories or brief narratives) describe key moments in their characters’ lives. Guillaume Tavard’s writing flows, and his gaze is affectionate and full of humor. His work calls Frédéric Berthet’s elegant carelessness to mind.

The world is messed up, man. The world is really messed up. Being 30, and waiting for things to look up…