“Nearly ten years have passed since the Troika imposed its austerity measures in Portugal, Greece, and Ireland. While these policies have ended, devotion to budget orthodoxy remains. The Arab Spring left a trail: Libya imploded, war still rages in Syria, and protest movements have broken out in Lebanon, Algiers, Iraq, and Iran. In Hong Kong, the Umbrella Revolution of 2014 cleared the way for a widespread rebellion in defence of the constitutional principle of “one country, two systems”. The Fukushima nuclear disaster continues to spawn inextricable environmental problems. Many key political figures of the period have left the scene: Barack Obama, Hu Jintao, Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron, George Papandreu, Silvio Berlusconi, Pedro Passos Coelho, and others. Gaspar is now 17. He is preparing for the national exams. The time has come for Gustavo’s body to change from a child’s to a young adult’s. Two years have passed since Patrícia died.”

“The current edition of “Ma vie va changer” suggests a rather more intimate relation. The book is about the size of a hand. It fits into one’s pocket and is easy to carry around. It is no longer a collective object that one looks at in the company of others; it has grown smaller, more reserved, and withdrawn, folded into itself rather than unfolding. It brings out a one-to-one relation.”

David-Alexandre Guéniot, March 2020.