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.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 01/10/2017
ISBN: 9780525432159
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.80d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2016
Publishers Weekly 11/14/2016
Library Journal 02/15/2017 pg. 90