Happy slaves

In Happy Slaves, two Belgian exiles go in search of themselves in a world that has become too big and chaotic for everyone.
In Buenos Aires, Tony Hanssen - a former cruise director on the world's most luxurious pleasure boats - plays a dangerous game as a toy boy to Mrs. Bo Xiang, the elderly wife of a notorious, filthy rich Chinese man. In South Africa, a very different Tony Hanssen - the fugitive computer specialist from a failed investment bank - invades a game reserve with a precision rifle and war ammunition.
One Tony is a loser without any illusions, the other Tony is a nerd with a zest for life. Both hope for redemption. One wants his freedom back, the other his family. Only when they meet for the first time, on yet another continent, does it become clear how much they depend on each other to achieve their goal. If they achieve it at all.
Happy Slaves is a Lanoye par excellence: a pitch-black tragicomedy with unforgettable characters and dialogues, an ingenious plot and a virtuoso style.
Tom Lanoye (1958) is a novelist, poet, columnist, screenwriter and playwright. This year marks exactly thirty years since Lanoye officially debuted in Dutch literature after a few self-published publications. He made his breakthrough with the general public with novels such as Kartonnen dozen, Het Amerikaanse monster and Sprakeloos, and plays such as Ten oorlog, Fort Europa and De Russen! He is now one of the most widely read and acclaimed authors of the Low Countries, and a regular at all major European theatre festivals. In 2012, he wrote the highly acclaimed Boekenweekgeschenk Heldere hemel.
About Clear Sky (2012):
'Lanoye succeeds where many failed: finally another good gift for the Book Week.' - de volkskrant
'Lanoye's Book Week gift is Jonathan Franzen in miniature.' - humo
'A masterful Book Week gift, as if inspired by Harry Mulisch.' - nrc handelsblad