Gerbrand Bakker was born in 1962. He studied Dutch language and
literature and worked as a subtitler for nature films before
becoming a gardener. Bakker won the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin
Literary Award for his novel The Twin (Vintage, 2009) and the 2013
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his novel The Detour
(Vintage, 2013).
David Colmer was born in Adelaide in 1960. Since moving to
Amsterdam in the early 1990s, he has published a wide range of
translations of Dutch literature. He is also a published author of
fiction. Colmer has won many awards for his translations, most
notably the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the
2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, both with novelist Gerbrand
Bakker. In 2009 he was awarded the biennial NSW Premier’s
Translation Prize for his body of work.
‘Bakker once again, through David Colmer’s bracingly fresh
translation, explores with remarkable deftness the ways in which
lives are interwoven.’
*TLS*
‘Bakker’s unhurried precision delivers an understated portrait of
middle-aged loneliness, before a twist that probes the role of
narrative indeterminacy in how we make sense of the world.’
*The Sydney Morning Herald*
‘A well-constructed, playful novel about three generations of
barbers.’
*Irish Times*
‘To say that Gerbrand Bakker hasn’t forgotten how to write a novel
would be an understatement. With The Hairdresser’s Son, he presents
himself as one of the very best writers the Netherlands has to
offer … With this vivid prose, he makes Simon fascinating, he makes
him someone — perhaps the greatest and most loving thing a writer
can do. For the reader this results in the almost magical illusion
that is the most extraordinary (and, I believe, unforgettable)
thing about this novel: the sense of having really seen someone.
Gerbrand Bakker has written his characters to life.’
*NRC*
‘[E]nthralling in that although nothing feels invented, the pages
still seem to exude something magical … Simply narrated scenes,
terrifying and moving at once.’
*De Groene Amsterdammer*
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