Hard Copy bookcover

Hard Copy

A story of girl meets printer

Fien Veldman 

(Author)

Hester Velmans 

(Translator)
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Description

Spending long hours in her claustraphobic office cubicle, a customer service assistant is struggling. Isolated, frustrated and lonely, she finds comfort in only one thing: the office printer. As she confides in the printer about her hopes and dreams, her fears and her past, it becomes clear to her that he is listening. But to her employees, the blossoming relationship is a worrying cry for help.

Diagnosed with burnout and placed on leave, she faces severance and – worse – separation from her beloved printer. But she's not about to give up on her only friend without a fight. And, it turns out, neither is he.

'A talented new voice worth paying attention to.' Irish Times
'Equal parts searing intelligence and madcap sweetness. Simply brilliant.' Jenny Mustard
'Very funny on the tedium of office life.' Irish Independent
'Intimate and surprising at every turn… A truly one-of-a-kind novel: I loved it.' Sarah Maria Griffin
This novel has it all. It's smart, captivating, poignant, absurd, moving, and terribly funny.' Jente Posthuma

Product Details

PublisherApollo
Publish DateSeptember 24, 2024
Pages256
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781035906444
Dimensions205.7 X 5.5 X 0.9 mm | 0.7 pounds

About the Author

Fien Veldman is the 2021 recipient of the Joost Zwagerman Essay Award for her essay 'Not really making it', about growing up in a working-class neighbourhood in Leeuwarden. In 2018 she won the Elise Mathilde Essay Award for her essay 'Borders, doors and eyes open'. Hard Copy is her debut novel.

Reviews

“Despite its whimsical premise, Hard Copy is at its heart a joyful, tender, and strangely relatable novel. With sharp, playful prose Veldman tells a story in equal parts searing intelligence and madcap sweetness. Simply brilliant.” —Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days

“This novel has it all. It's smart, captivating, poignant, absurd, moving, and terribly funny.” —Jente Posthuma, author of What I'd Rather Not Think About

Intimate and surprising at every turn, Hard Copy's distinct narrative voice took me right in from page one. A truly one-of-a-kind novel: I loved it.

” —Sarah Maria Griffin, author of Other Words for Smoke

“Rounded with sharp observations and surprising humour, Hard Copy is an incisive commentary on social isolation – a young woman's desperate search for connection in these late-capitalist times. ” —Anindita Ghose, author of The Illuminated

“Many astute observations about loneliness [and] class attitudes... very funny on the tedium of office life.” —Irish Independent

Hard Copy is a wonderfully entertaining novel about the struggle to build relationships when one's formative years have already warped their foundation. In a world where machines steadily replace human labour, Veldman explores the search for connections that may not exist and a new, hopefully better reality... bizarre yet poignant'” —Daily Dispatch

“A talented new voice worth paying attention to.” —Irish Times

Dryly comic... You regularly wonder who is more disturbed here, the protagonist or society.” —Het Parool

“A weird, understated and very well written book about a millennial meltdown” —Havermelkelite

“A beautiful, at times absurdist and moving debut” —Boekblad

“In clear, bright language, Fien Veldman accurately depicts a world, a social background, that eats its way through the individual... A novel like an autopsy.” —Manon Uphoff

Absurdist and inventive. Fien Veldman knows how to deal with contemporary cultural phenomena, and she always approaches them astutely and surprisingly'” —Tzum

Wondrous” —Noordhollands Dagblad

“A beautiful book” —Friesch Dagblad

“The tight, earnest prose brings the reader right onto her side, even if her tastes are a little unconventional.” —Electric Lit

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