Easy Living

Tom Sanders is a celebrated writer of self-help books. His bestsellers “Crime Without Frontiers” and “Easy Living” have sold more than forty million copies worldwide. He leads an extremely comfortable life, is happily married to Julia, and has two grown-up sons, the youngest of whom, Stefan, is the apple of his eye. Suddenly, during a birthday party for Julia, their daughter-in-law Hanna – of whom Tom and Julia are not particularly fond – turns up at the door. Sobbing, she says that Stefan has beaten her and that this is not the first time. Should Tom tackle his favourite son about his behaviour? Or would it perhaps be better to put the advice from his self-help books into practice, such as his famous precept ‘Try not to solve problems by thinking about them; often they are sooner solved by not thinking about them’?

‘From the second line, “You must have heard of me”, you wish him the worst.’ de Volkskrant

‘Should Tom Sanders disregard that advice? Or should he tackle his son about his behaviour? That is the central dilemma in Easy Living, and Koch gets a devilish kick out of making Tom Sanders vacillate between these two options, and gets an even greater kick out of pushing him into a corner.’ Parool

‘The reader soon starts to hope for the know-it-all’s downfall, but Koch takes his time to satisfy that desire.’ de Volkskrant

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The Herman Koch collection.

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‘Herman Koch, the best-selling postwar Dutch writer, shows yet again why he is the master of suspense and open endings.’ **** Humo

‘Koch demonstrates his great narrative talent.’ DE TELEGRAAF

‘A brilliant tragicomedy about the elasticity of morality. The reader has to constantly readjust his radar.’ Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung (Germany)

'Gripping and disturbing and unexpected. [Koch] spares no one, least of all his readers.’ HERALD SUN

‘Koch proved himself a master at recording absurd trains of thoughts and slapstick situations. Both painful and hilarious at the same time.’ NRC HANDELSBLAD

‘War at Last is a light-hearted story about ordinary people, told with humour and empathy.’ Leeuwarder Courant

‘Koch has outdone himself. His heroine is beautiful, tragic and believable.’ De Groene Amsterdammer

‘A novel both hilarious and poignant that turns everything on its head so often that you end up not knowing which is which: fiction or reality.’ GPD

‘Anyone who really wants to understand Koch’s popular novels should start with these stories.’ NRC Handelsblad

‘From the second line, “You must have heard of me”, you wish him the worst.’ de Volkskrant

'An incredible book. Enjoyably recognisable, and well written.' Sevendays

Koch commands his metier with an effortless superiority. De Volkskrant

Wie Koch kent, weet gemanipuleerd te gaan worden, met onweerstaanbare vertellers en superieure ironie. En ook nu weer krijgt hij je in de tang NRC