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Small Comfort
A dazzlingly experimental novel about money from International Booker Prize-shortlisted author Ia Genberg and translator Kira Josefsson.
* * * LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026 * * *
'You know, love is love, he says. But what about the revolution?'
Intricately built and wickedly humorous, these five interconnected short stories are all about one thing: money.
From an interview with a child-star-turned-thief to the mysterious death of an employee at a drug manufacturer - or the couple feigning marital bliss to keep their inheritance, Ia Genberg carefully unravels the value we place on both money and people.
What does it really mean to be in debt to someone? How does our financial worth permeate the ways we think and feel? And what do we lose when we supposedly win? Small Comfort skewers its characters, slyly implicating the reader along the way.
A brilliantly original and thought-provoking collection from the author and translator of The Details, shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize.
* * * LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026 * * *
'You know, love is love, he says. But what about the revolution?'
Intricately built and wickedly humorous, these five interconnected short stories are all about one thing: money.
From an interview with a child-star-turned-thief to the mysterious death of an employee at a drug manufacturer - or the couple feigning marital bliss to keep their inheritance, Ia Genberg carefully unravels the value we place on both money and people.
What does it really mean to be in debt to someone? How does our financial worth permeate the ways we think and feel? And what do we lose when we supposedly win? Small Comfort skewers its characters, slyly implicating the reader along the way.
A brilliantly original and thought-provoking collection from the author and translator of The Details, shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize.
366 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2018
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2534 people want to read
About the author
Ia Genberg
6 books202 followersIa Gabriella Genberg (born 5 November 1967) is a Swedish journalist and novelist.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, she debuted as a writer in 2012 with the novel Söta fredag ("Sweet Friday"). Her fourth novel, Detaljerna ("The Details"), won the August Prize in 2022, the year of its publication. The English translation, by Kira Josefsson, was shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize.
Author Picture: Sara Mac Key
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, she debuted as a writer in 2012 with the novel Söta fredag ("Sweet Friday"). Her fourth novel, Detaljerna ("The Details"), won the August Prize in 2022, the year of its publication. The English translation, by Kira Josefsson, was shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize.
Author Picture: Sara Mac Key
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March 22, 2026
a collection of 5 interconnected short stories about money and the role it plays in our lives and relationships. there’s just something about ia genberg’s writing (and josefsson’s translation) that really scratches my brain. i don’t think this will be for everyone but it was for me!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize
Marriage: there’s always a winner and a loser, one who makes more withdrawals than deposits, one whose investments turn out to be wiser in the long term, who seems to constantly repay their debts right before the interest rate goes up.
Small Comfort is Kira Josefsson's translation of Klen tröst & fyra andra berättelser om pengar by Ia Genberg. The Details from the same translator/author was previously shortlisted for the 2024 edition of the International Booker.
The original full title of Small Comfort could be translated as Small Comfort and Four Other Stories About Money, and the book rather does what it says on the tin, or perhaps better what the signature of the chief cashier says on the bank note.
I’m sure you saw the briefcase on TV, stuffed with globally accepted currency, and maybe you were surprised by the shape of the bills: the cash, their physicality, their potential rustling. Cash and digital money might be the same, but in actuality they aren’t. One is traceable, the other is not–though the real difference is about something else. For instance, the fact that the words for ‘cash’ are more numerous in most languages than the words for ‘darling’, and that these two words activate the same area in the amygdala. Or that the effort a person expends on making money can be enhanced by the physical experience of money, e.g. holding it in one’s hand, or having one’s face being placed in the draught produced by riffling through a wad of notes. Looking at an account statement or a stock exchange chart doesn’t have the same effect: no glands are activated, no salivation occurs, no muscles contract. Cash, on the other hand, like a strong scent from one’s childhood, takes the fast lane to the human heart.
Although these are more 5 novellas than 5 short stories - and all 5 outstayed their welcome for me, although the different formats adopted does maintain the reader's interest for the overall project. And there are links between them - some clear, other more subtle, and I suspect some too subtle for my attention span.
Success Greger has a reporter (called Ia Genberg) interviewing a former child actor Greger Johnson who, years ago, appeared in a movie based on Astrid Lindgren's Emil i Lönneberga books - the story a recording of their interview. The reporter is interviewing various of the stars of the film for a tribute to the director, who has died, but Greger is more interested in both theorising on life and telling her how he impulsively stole a car recently, and the odd events that followed.
Penance is a letter from an anonymous source (perhaps Weidar himself?) discussing the disappearance, and assumed murder, of a man, Sebastian Weidar, working for a large bit shadowy pharma conglomerate, his job to dispense cash bribes to doctors and others.
The more digital the world becomes, the more important is the cash-based choreography that constituted the frame of Weidar’s work. If you believe it’s all zeroes and ones these days, well, then you’ve never seen the hand an underpaid scientist will place on a fat, unaddressed envelope during a bistro lunch after a few months of lapsed academic integrity.
But he disappeared/was killed when he lost a large suitcase of cash - the loss we realise being an accidental side-effect of Greger's impulsive act.
[As an aside, Weidar's boss Janzon has, for some reason, an intriguing and unexplained Korean connection - serving bulgogi wraps at dinner parties; obsessed with photos of Korean cheesecake; and with strong views on the chemically disastrous combination of that staple of Korean birthday cakes - Kiwis on cream]
The third story, Speech At A Wedding is, indeed a speech delivered at a wedding, but one written by an uninvited and absent party, and delivered by a hired actress (and later we realise hired also for a more sinister act), condeming the groom, a business man.
The fourth The Loser's Claustrophobia draws, as is acknowledged at the start of the book, heavily on the work of social psychologist Paul Piff, and experiments he performed observing participants in clearly rigged games of Monopoly. One player gets to roll two dice the other one; starts with more money and collects more when they pass go; and cannot Go to Jail - but Piff's experiments revealed that both the advantaged player, and, but to a lesser extent, the disadvantaged one tended to attribute the former's inevitable win to skill and willpower rather than an inbuild advantage.
And disadvantaged players who received mid-game coaching, were convinced they could now win, or indeed were pulling back into the game, despite all the evidence:
P: If I’d only pulled myself together better, I could have won. Or had a chance.
E: But you didn’t get any hotels, and you only had two houses.
P: Sure.
E: While your opponent bought, let’s see . . . Right, he had Fenchurch Street, the Angel, Islington, Whitechapel, Marlborough Street, Coventry Street, Oxford Street and Mayfair after just three rounds. You had completed only one round, and had bought–ah . . . right, Piccadilly.
P: Right.
E: And after five rounds he had hotels on Park Lane and Mayfair.
P: Wasn’t that when I bought Old Kent Road, though?
The story itself consists of notes on designing the experiments and observations of the results, as well as a side-story (whose significance escaped me) about one of the experimenters and his relationship with a woman he met in a bar. The experimenters also talk about a famous person Simmons, who is in a coma after a murder attempt, which may link to the previous story.
This was perhaps the most interesting story in terms of it's observations on money - except one can glean the information from the source via Paul Piff's TED talk.
The fifth, and title, story has a divorced couple enacting their annual 'play', at the wife's family's island summer home, designed to convince her mother than they are still married, so she doesn't disinherit them. The economically unsuccessful divorced husband works on scripts to dub English cartoons into Swedish (so that the Swedish words fit the character's mouth movements); plans plots for crime novels he doesn't actually write (the plot sketches included in the story); and works nights as a taxi driver to make ends meet (in which guise he appears in other stories, for example giving Weidar a lift).
Perhaps the weakest of the longlist for me, although a worthwhile read. 2.5 stars.
International Booker judges' citation
‘A separated couple are forced to revert to married life for an annual holiday in order to secure an inheritance. A researcher using Monopoly to study societal inequality discovers for herself how love corrupts. Money makes the world go round and Ia Genberg has a deep, clear-eyed vision of how. The dramatic distinctness of the five stories that make up Small Comfort speaks to the might of Genberg’s imaginative powers, while the intricate threads tying them together are testament to her subtleness as a thinker. It couldn’t work without Kira Josefsson’s staggeringly flexible translation, which also stands out for the naturalness of its dialogue and wonderfully rhythmic prose. This duo’s writing zings and smarts in all the right places as we see ourselves reflected in the characters, warts and all. Breathtakingly original, profound but with a delicious dose of irreverence.’
Marriage: there’s always a winner and a loser, one who makes more withdrawals than deposits, one whose investments turn out to be wiser in the long term, who seems to constantly repay their debts right before the interest rate goes up.
Small Comfort is Kira Josefsson's translation of Klen tröst & fyra andra berättelser om pengar by Ia Genberg. The Details from the same translator/author was previously shortlisted for the 2024 edition of the International Booker.
The original full title of Small Comfort could be translated as Small Comfort and Four Other Stories About Money, and the book rather does what it says on the tin, or perhaps better what the signature of the chief cashier says on the bank note.
I’m sure you saw the briefcase on TV, stuffed with globally accepted currency, and maybe you were surprised by the shape of the bills: the cash, their physicality, their potential rustling. Cash and digital money might be the same, but in actuality they aren’t. One is traceable, the other is not–though the real difference is about something else. For instance, the fact that the words for ‘cash’ are more numerous in most languages than the words for ‘darling’, and that these two words activate the same area in the amygdala. Or that the effort a person expends on making money can be enhanced by the physical experience of money, e.g. holding it in one’s hand, or having one’s face being placed in the draught produced by riffling through a wad of notes. Looking at an account statement or a stock exchange chart doesn’t have the same effect: no glands are activated, no salivation occurs, no muscles contract. Cash, on the other hand, like a strong scent from one’s childhood, takes the fast lane to the human heart.
Although these are more 5 novellas than 5 short stories - and all 5 outstayed their welcome for me, although the different formats adopted does maintain the reader's interest for the overall project. And there are links between them - some clear, other more subtle, and I suspect some too subtle for my attention span.
Success Greger has a reporter (called Ia Genberg) interviewing a former child actor Greger Johnson who, years ago, appeared in a movie based on Astrid Lindgren's Emil i Lönneberga books - the story a recording of their interview. The reporter is interviewing various of the stars of the film for a tribute to the director, who has died, but Greger is more interested in both theorising on life and telling her how he impulsively stole a car recently, and the odd events that followed.
Penance is a letter from an anonymous source (perhaps Weidar himself?) discussing the disappearance, and assumed murder, of a man, Sebastian Weidar, working for a large bit shadowy pharma conglomerate, his job to dispense cash bribes to doctors and others.
The more digital the world becomes, the more important is the cash-based choreography that constituted the frame of Weidar’s work. If you believe it’s all zeroes and ones these days, well, then you’ve never seen the hand an underpaid scientist will place on a fat, unaddressed envelope during a bistro lunch after a few months of lapsed academic integrity.
But he disappeared/was killed when he lost a large suitcase of cash - the loss we realise being an accidental side-effect of Greger's impulsive act.
[As an aside, Weidar's boss Janzon has, for some reason, an intriguing and unexplained Korean connection - serving bulgogi wraps at dinner parties; obsessed with photos of Korean cheesecake; and with strong views on the chemically disastrous combination of that staple of Korean birthday cakes - Kiwis on cream]
The third story, Speech At A Wedding is, indeed a speech delivered at a wedding, but one written by an uninvited and absent party, and delivered by a hired actress (and later we realise hired also for a more sinister act), condeming the groom, a business man.
The fourth The Loser's Claustrophobia draws, as is acknowledged at the start of the book, heavily on the work of social psychologist Paul Piff, and experiments he performed observing participants in clearly rigged games of Monopoly. One player gets to roll two dice the other one; starts with more money and collects more when they pass go; and cannot Go to Jail - but Piff's experiments revealed that both the advantaged player, and, but to a lesser extent, the disadvantaged one tended to attribute the former's inevitable win to skill and willpower rather than an inbuild advantage.
And disadvantaged players who received mid-game coaching, were convinced they could now win, or indeed were pulling back into the game, despite all the evidence:
P: If I’d only pulled myself together better, I could have won. Or had a chance.
E: But you didn’t get any hotels, and you only had two houses.
P: Sure.
E: While your opponent bought, let’s see . . . Right, he had Fenchurch Street, the Angel, Islington, Whitechapel, Marlborough Street, Coventry Street, Oxford Street and Mayfair after just three rounds. You had completed only one round, and had bought–ah . . . right, Piccadilly.
P: Right.
E: And after five rounds he had hotels on Park Lane and Mayfair.
P: Wasn’t that when I bought Old Kent Road, though?
The story itself consists of notes on designing the experiments and observations of the results, as well as a side-story (whose significance escaped me) about one of the experimenters and his relationship with a woman he met in a bar. The experimenters also talk about a famous person Simmons, who is in a coma after a murder attempt, which may link to the previous story.
This was perhaps the most interesting story in terms of it's observations on money - except one can glean the information from the source via Paul Piff's TED talk.
The fifth, and title, story has a divorced couple enacting their annual 'play', at the wife's family's island summer home, designed to convince her mother than they are still married, so she doesn't disinherit them. The economically unsuccessful divorced husband works on scripts to dub English cartoons into Swedish (so that the Swedish words fit the character's mouth movements); plans plots for crime novels he doesn't actually write (the plot sketches included in the story); and works nights as a taxi driver to make ends meet (in which guise he appears in other stories, for example giving Weidar a lift).
Perhaps the weakest of the longlist for me, although a worthwhile read. 2.5 stars.
International Booker judges' citation
‘A separated couple are forced to revert to married life for an annual holiday in order to secure an inheritance. A researcher using Monopoly to study societal inequality discovers for herself how love corrupts. Money makes the world go round and Ia Genberg has a deep, clear-eyed vision of how. The dramatic distinctness of the five stories that make up Small Comfort speaks to the might of Genberg’s imaginative powers, while the intricate threads tying them together are testament to her subtleness as a thinker. It couldn’t work without Kira Josefsson’s staggeringly flexible translation, which also stands out for the naturalness of its dialogue and wonderfully rhythmic prose. This duo’s writing zings and smarts in all the right places as we see ourselves reflected in the characters, warts and all. Breathtakingly original, profound but with a delicious dose of irreverence.’
Read
April 14, 2026This book is teeming with so many ideas and perspectives about one thing: money. The root of all evil? A manmade concept? Something that divides us socially, politically, geographically, and in so many other ways? A bargaining chip? An anesthetic to daily life?
In 5 loosely connected short stories, Ia Genberg delivers powerful ideas in bursts of creative prose and unique story structures.
I was hooked from page one, and it really didn't let up at all. I'll save you the synopsis of each story, since there's only 5 of them and it's obviously more fun to discover them for yourself. I'll only curb expectations for this being an 'interconnected short story collection' and say that while that's true, don't expect some overarching plot or resolution across them. They truly are just 5 distinct stories that share a few facts/details to tie them together; though the thematic connections are where they really play off one another, more than plot or characters.
This is funnily enough the 2nd book as of late that heavily talks about the concept of money (the other being Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami). The security that it brings, both physically and psychologically, the advantages and disadvantages of it. It's a concept which we are in some ways always thinking about but also not really thinking about too deeply beyond what we need to survive (at least, that's how the majority of the world's population lives while others get rich off the backs of that majority and don't have to worry about money at all...). I'm sure in the coming decade we will only get more books about the subject, and I'm curious to keep reading them and to keep challenging my perspective.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Genberg's writing (with another flawless translation by Josefsson!). Between this and The Details, Genberg is definitely an author I'll keep an eye on.
In 5 loosely connected short stories, Ia Genberg delivers powerful ideas in bursts of creative prose and unique story structures.
I was hooked from page one, and it really didn't let up at all. I'll save you the synopsis of each story, since there's only 5 of them and it's obviously more fun to discover them for yourself. I'll only curb expectations for this being an 'interconnected short story collection' and say that while that's true, don't expect some overarching plot or resolution across them. They truly are just 5 distinct stories that share a few facts/details to tie them together; though the thematic connections are where they really play off one another, more than plot or characters.
This is funnily enough the 2nd book as of late that heavily talks about the concept of money (the other being Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami). The security that it brings, both physically and psychologically, the advantages and disadvantages of it. It's a concept which we are in some ways always thinking about but also not really thinking about too deeply beyond what we need to survive (at least, that's how the majority of the world's population lives while others get rich off the backs of that majority and don't have to worry about money at all...). I'm sure in the coming decade we will only get more books about the subject, and I'm curious to keep reading them and to keep challenging my perspective.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Genberg's writing (with another flawless translation by Josefsson!). Between this and The Details, Genberg is definitely an author I'll keep an eye on.
March 2, 2026
3.5. In five connected short stories, Genberg looks at the ways in which money consciously or unconsciously affects our behavior, our view of the world around us, and the relationships we have with other people.
Playing with form throughout, these stories take the shape of an interview between Genberg herself and a failed child star fixated on wealth and his lack of it, of a wedding speech delivered by proxy through an actress that builds to a dramatic conclusion, of a research log for a PhD student studying the effects of temporary wealth by modifying the rules of Monopoly.
Some of these stories worked better than others, though I often felt the way the theme "money makes people act in strange ways" was explored was a bit on the nose, simplistic, and just rather obvious? Nothing that anybody does, says, or thinks in these stories will surprise anyone and I think that's one of the reasons this wasn't a standout read for me. It's easy to look at the world around us and see even more extreme examples of the ways in which people do insane or unethical things for money and power and so this exploration felt a bit tame and self-evident. Perhaps I wanted it to probe deeper into the psychological and philosophical theories around the topic.
All descriptions say this book is about money, but I found it was equally about truth and the ways in which it is often irrelevant in the face of stronger forces. This goes hand in hand with the theme of money and its influence, but this angle interested me more with its relevance to the world around us and the ways in which the truth is denied or easily evaded by those with power and wealth.
Genberg's writing (as seen through Josefsson's translation) is stylistically straightforward and didn't capture me in the same was that it did in The Details.
A bit uninspiring for my tastes, but not one I regret reading.
Playing with form throughout, these stories take the shape of an interview between Genberg herself and a failed child star fixated on wealth and his lack of it, of a wedding speech delivered by proxy through an actress that builds to a dramatic conclusion, of a research log for a PhD student studying the effects of temporary wealth by modifying the rules of Monopoly.
Some of these stories worked better than others, though I often felt the way the theme "money makes people act in strange ways" was explored was a bit on the nose, simplistic, and just rather obvious? Nothing that anybody does, says, or thinks in these stories will surprise anyone and I think that's one of the reasons this wasn't a standout read for me. It's easy to look at the world around us and see even more extreme examples of the ways in which people do insane or unethical things for money and power and so this exploration felt a bit tame and self-evident. Perhaps I wanted it to probe deeper into the psychological and philosophical theories around the topic.
All descriptions say this book is about money, but I found it was equally about truth and the ways in which it is often irrelevant in the face of stronger forces. This goes hand in hand with the theme of money and its influence, but this angle interested me more with its relevance to the world around us and the ways in which the truth is denied or easily evaded by those with power and wealth.
Genberg's writing (as seen through Josefsson's translation) is stylistically straightforward and didn't capture me in the same was that it did in The Details.
A bit uninspiring for my tastes, but not one I regret reading.
April 14, 2026
Ia Genberg’s Small Comfort (translated by Kira Josefsson) is my 11th novel off this year’s International Booker Longlist.
The book consists of 5 short stories - all are connected through reoccurring characters and thematically.
Through these 5 stories Genberg expands on themes such as the role of money in a society that is going through a financial crises. As a result she also examines ethics and morals surrounding finance.
Stylistically it’s clever and varied: the first story is an interview between a journalist with the author’s same name and a failing former child actor. The other a scientific report on a larger than life game of monopoly- the last story is about an author trying to think of the ideal crime novel plot.
Small Comfort is different and innovative- for me two of the stories didn’t hit that well but it’s definitely pushing boundaries and worth a read.
The book consists of 5 short stories - all are connected through reoccurring characters and thematically.
Through these 5 stories Genberg expands on themes such as the role of money in a society that is going through a financial crises. As a result she also examines ethics and morals surrounding finance.
Stylistically it’s clever and varied: the first story is an interview between a journalist with the author’s same name and a failing former child actor. The other a scientific report on a larger than life game of monopoly- the last story is about an author trying to think of the ideal crime novel plot.
Small Comfort is different and innovative- for me two of the stories didn’t hit that well but it’s definitely pushing boundaries and worth a read.
March 19, 2026
Interesting (and supposedly interlinked?) stories about money and wealth that make you reflect on our modern world. Some stories I really liked, others I admired more than I enjoyed reading them. Like in Genberg's The Details the character descriptions are beautifully detailed and realistic again. A fascinating read.
Thank you Headline and Netgalley UK for the ARC.
Thank you Headline and Netgalley UK for the ARC.
March 28, 2026
Was torn between 3 and 4 stars but going with the latter as this is a super unique short story collection. All of the stories revolve around money and the way normal people can be corrupted by it. I loved the first story and the last two the best out of the whole lot. I really like short story collections which experiment with form and keep you interested which this one does very well. I’d recommend this as it really captivated me.
March 10, 2026
Begynte bra, men datt fort av. Kvifor denne er på den internasjonale Booker langliste er eit mysterium.
March 12, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Headline for providing me a copy of this book. Small Comfort is longlisted for the International Booker Prize for 2026, and this is my first completed book from the prize. I found this just okay. Small Comfort is a collection of five short stories, two of them are on the longer side and three are on the shorter side. We follow different stories and characters, all in different financial situations.
Out of the five short stories, I only really enjoyed one story, and that was the first long one, where we follow the author doing an interview in prison with an actor who has turned into a thief. They had very nice dynamic and good banter. As for the other stories, I didn't much get them and didn't take out anything out of them. Although they all were beautifully written. The writing style is the strong side of this book. I am hoping that I will enjoy the other books on the longlist more than this one.
Out of the five short stories, I only really enjoyed one story, and that was the first long one, where we follow the author doing an interview in prison with an actor who has turned into a thief. They had very nice dynamic and good banter. As for the other stories, I didn't much get them and didn't take out anything out of them. Although they all were beautifully written. The writing style is the strong side of this book. I am hoping that I will enjoy the other books on the longlist more than this one.
March 12, 2026
Considered and funny when she’s in a playful mood. New aspiration is to be a rich woman’s concubine
February 20, 2025
Älskar Ia Genbergs skärpa och intellekt! Efter del 3 "Tal vid bröllop" var jag säker på att det skulle bli en 4/5 stjärnor i rating, men del 4 var så pass seg att ta sig igenom att mitt slutbetyg fick bli lägre. Jag gillade del 5 "Klen tröst", men avslutet var inte helt tillfredställande.
April 26, 2026
Love Ia Genberg and love interconnected short stories, but somehow Small Comfort dragged on for me and I couldn’t get to the end of it. I just got incredibly bored. Not sure if it was the topic or the slow pace but I’m happy to let this one go now. Still appreciate some of the take away I got from these first 2,5 chapters I made it through.
March 22, 2026
International Booker Prize 2026 - 10/13
3.5/5
3.5/5
March 19, 2026
Favourite so far on the Booker longlist.
March 26, 2026
IBPL 7.5
Clever series of lightly interlinked stories on the theme of money and the corroding influence it can have over people’s behaviours. Written in very different styles, I found the last of the book which was the most straightforward in style worked best for me. Overall thought provoking stuff if a little heavy handed in its messaging and at times rather over bearing stylistically
Clever series of lightly interlinked stories on the theme of money and the corroding influence it can have over people’s behaviours. Written in very different styles, I found the last of the book which was the most straightforward in style worked best for me. Overall thought provoking stuff if a little heavy handed in its messaging and at times rather over bearing stylistically
August 18, 2019
Briljant, rolig & skickligt skriven!
January 25, 2022
De första två novellerna var riktigt bra! De andra tre var också bra. En bok som säger sig handla om pengar, men det handlar såklart egentligen om människan, precis som det ska vara.
March 27, 2026
This is a collection of 5 short stories about money, so I’m going to review them separately.
Success Greger
A journalist is sent to interview a child actor for an article they are doing to honor the death of a great director. The child actor has since done stints in jail and doesn’t seem to have reformed much. He would much rather talk about money and the difference between those who have it and those who don’t and the car he stole recently. The story is a recording of the interview written as dialogue between the two.
The actor gives you the same impression as a drunk spewing conspiracy theories out loud on the bus on your way to work. You’re annoyed and dismissive, but you know he’s right about some percentage of it. Is it interesting? Not really. This specific story was published in Swedish on storytel so I listened to it there, and on audio I really liked it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Penance
A letter from an anonymous person informs about the disappearance and assumed death of Sebastian Weidar. A man working for big pharma doing bribes.
There’s good and bad here, but my first instinct is that it’s confusing if it’s meant to be epistolary format. Is the whole story the letter? Who writes 50 page letters? This has always annoyed me about this format. It’s not believable to me. I would say that the story had some entertaining musings about talking shit or “shit talk” as the novel calls it.
“That’s the detail that stops lie detectors from picking up on shit-talk: it would be like attempting to check the outdoor temperature with a tape measure. Shit-talkers always bring a tape measure when it’s time to get a sense of the weather.”
It's entertaining, but I wasn’t really fully able to grasp what it was really about. Again, much like the first, feels like a ranting man in public talking to himself. There was also talk about a stolen car and a briefcase here, are these stories somewhat connected? ⭐⭐⭐
Speech at a wedding
The speech at the wedding is literally that, a speech held by an actress written by a party not invited. The speech is cryptic and uses curiosity to be able to keep performing without interruption. But if I’m being honest, I don’t see this happening. There’s no way I - as either the couple, the family, or a close personal friend would allow a strange actress to stand and deliver a speech in front of 80 of your closest friends of family when you start throwing out serious accusations. And even though I find this a bit unbelievable, I did like it. I thought the start was more impactful and I was more curious, but the longer it went on, the more I lost track of what the actress, or speech or even the writer was trying to say with this. But it was a fast read and the writing style is very good. ⭐⭐⭐
The Loser's Claustrophobia
I just watched Paul Piff’s TED talk “Does money make you mean” and it feels like a behind the scenes of qualitative research. Complete with research notes and questionnaires.
This one is hard for me to review, because I found the research and TED talk interesting, but having just watched that, the short story was a bit boring to read because I already knew the outcome and for me it got too repetitive. ⭐⭐⭐
Small comfort
A couple pretends to be happily married every summer in front of her family so that her rich mother doesn’t inherit them. He’s offered 25% of the inheritance to play along. Meanwhile he’s planning on writing crime novels and pitches us synopsis for some fun thrillers. The rest of this story isn’t so fun. But it’s ok. I wasn’t very interested, but it is interesting the lengths people are willing to go to for money. ⭐⭐⭐
All in all I found these stories mid, but with some interesting points. I wouldn’t call it uplifting, but it was the “lightest” of the international booker nominees, so it became a welcomed break from the rest of the bleak ones.
Success Greger
A journalist is sent to interview a child actor for an article they are doing to honor the death of a great director. The child actor has since done stints in jail and doesn’t seem to have reformed much. He would much rather talk about money and the difference between those who have it and those who don’t and the car he stole recently. The story is a recording of the interview written as dialogue between the two.
The actor gives you the same impression as a drunk spewing conspiracy theories out loud on the bus on your way to work. You’re annoyed and dismissive, but you know he’s right about some percentage of it. Is it interesting? Not really. This specific story was published in Swedish on storytel so I listened to it there, and on audio I really liked it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Penance
A letter from an anonymous person informs about the disappearance and assumed death of Sebastian Weidar. A man working for big pharma doing bribes.
There’s good and bad here, but my first instinct is that it’s confusing if it’s meant to be epistolary format. Is the whole story the letter? Who writes 50 page letters? This has always annoyed me about this format. It’s not believable to me. I would say that the story had some entertaining musings about talking shit or “shit talk” as the novel calls it.
“That’s the detail that stops lie detectors from picking up on shit-talk: it would be like attempting to check the outdoor temperature with a tape measure. Shit-talkers always bring a tape measure when it’s time to get a sense of the weather.”
It's entertaining, but I wasn’t really fully able to grasp what it was really about. Again, much like the first, feels like a ranting man in public talking to himself. There was also talk about a stolen car and a briefcase here, are these stories somewhat connected? ⭐⭐⭐
Speech at a wedding
The speech at the wedding is literally that, a speech held by an actress written by a party not invited. The speech is cryptic and uses curiosity to be able to keep performing without interruption. But if I’m being honest, I don’t see this happening. There’s no way I - as either the couple, the family, or a close personal friend would allow a strange actress to stand and deliver a speech in front of 80 of your closest friends of family when you start throwing out serious accusations. And even though I find this a bit unbelievable, I did like it. I thought the start was more impactful and I was more curious, but the longer it went on, the more I lost track of what the actress, or speech or even the writer was trying to say with this. But it was a fast read and the writing style is very good. ⭐⭐⭐
The Loser's Claustrophobia
I just watched Paul Piff’s TED talk “Does money make you mean” and it feels like a behind the scenes of qualitative research. Complete with research notes and questionnaires.
This one is hard for me to review, because I found the research and TED talk interesting, but having just watched that, the short story was a bit boring to read because I already knew the outcome and for me it got too repetitive. ⭐⭐⭐
Small comfort
A couple pretends to be happily married every summer in front of her family so that her rich mother doesn’t inherit them. He’s offered 25% of the inheritance to play along. Meanwhile he’s planning on writing crime novels and pitches us synopsis for some fun thrillers. The rest of this story isn’t so fun. But it’s ok. I wasn’t very interested, but it is interesting the lengths people are willing to go to for money. ⭐⭐⭐
All in all I found these stories mid, but with some interesting points. I wouldn’t call it uplifting, but it was the “lightest” of the international booker nominees, so it became a welcomed break from the rest of the bleak ones.
March 21, 2026
This was a fascinating book to read by the Swedish author Ia Genberg, whose previous novel, The Details, had great reviews (added to TBR pile). It is a set of five loosely connected short stories: some of the characters and incidents appear in the different stories but most importantly the theme across the whole is the impact of money on people and their behaviours and interactions with others. The five short pieces have very individual styles: Success Greger is an interview between a child actor, now an adult with a criminal past, with a journalist (I G); Penance a letter about a disappeared employee of a big Pharma company in Mexico; Speech at a Wedding being a surprise speech voiced by an actor to discomfort a businessman; The Loser’s Claustrophobia fictionalising a real research study using a rigged Monopoly game to expose characteristics of winners and losers; Small Comfort showing how the family of a rich widow act together to hide the divorce of her daughter so that a large inheritance is not lost. Money is portrayed as a dehumanising influence.
Overall a thought provoking and challenging book which I felt at times stretched the overarching premise about the corrosive effect of money/financial success.
Overall a thought provoking and challenging book which I felt at times stretched the overarching premise about the corrosive effect of money/financial success.
Want to Read
March 6, 2026Small Comfort is an intricately built and wickedly humorous collection of five interconnected stories about money.
From an interview with a child-star-turned-thief to the mysterious death of an employee at a drug manufacturer – or the couple feigning marital bliss to keep their inheritance, Ia Genberg carefully unravels the value we place on both money and people.
What does it really mean to be in debt to someone? How does our financial worth permeate the ways we think and feel? And what do we lose when we supposedly win?
An original and thought-provoking short-story collection, Small Comfort skewers its characters, slyly implicating the reader along the way. It’s published in the UK by Wildfire. This extract is taken from the opening of the book.
From an interview with a child-star-turned-thief to the mysterious death of an employee at a drug manufacturer – or the couple feigning marital bliss to keep their inheritance, Ia Genberg carefully unravels the value we place on both money and people.
What does it really mean to be in debt to someone? How does our financial worth permeate the ways we think and feel? And what do we lose when we supposedly win?
An original and thought-provoking short-story collection, Small Comfort skewers its characters, slyly implicating the reader along the way. It’s published in the UK by Wildfire. This extract is taken from the opening of the book.
March 28, 2026
3.75 rounded up.
Small Comfort by Ia Genberg — brief thoughts
This is an experimental collection of five linked pieces, each told in a different form: an interview (where Genberg appears as a character), a corporate letter, a staged wedding speech, research-style notes, and a more traditional domestic narrative. The final piece is substantial enough to read like a novella.
On the surface, the stories deal with money and its effects. More interestingly though, they treat human relationships as systems of exchange, where things like fear, guilt, revenge, status, and love function as their own kinds of currency. Each form reinforces this idea by showing a different way value is created, performed, or manipulated. At the same time, the book suggests that some experiences, especially loss or violence, can’t be reduced to any system of value.
It’s a thoughtful and well-constructed work, but it didn’t fully land for me. The ideas are strong, though at times they feel more conceptual than emotionally engaging.
Small Comfort by Ia Genberg — brief thoughts
This is an experimental collection of five linked pieces, each told in a different form: an interview (where Genberg appears as a character), a corporate letter, a staged wedding speech, research-style notes, and a more traditional domestic narrative. The final piece is substantial enough to read like a novella.
On the surface, the stories deal with money and its effects. More interestingly though, they treat human relationships as systems of exchange, where things like fear, guilt, revenge, status, and love function as their own kinds of currency. Each form reinforces this idea by showing a different way value is created, performed, or manipulated. At the same time, the book suggests that some experiences, especially loss or violence, can’t be reduced to any system of value.
It’s a thoughtful and well-constructed work, but it didn’t fully land for me. The ideas are strong, though at times they feel more conceptual than emotionally engaging.
March 22, 2026
International Booker Prize 2026 - 7/13
what a delightful little collection of stories. Genberg does a wonderful job of writing these stories - about money, family, people, the value we place on things - and, at the same time, writing a compelling plot alongside these themes. i particularly liked the final story “small comfort”, and the penultimate “the loser’s claustrophobia”
what a delightful little collection of stories. Genberg does a wonderful job of writing these stories - about money, family, people, the value we place on things - and, at the same time, writing a compelling plot alongside these themes. i particularly liked the final story “small comfort”, and the penultimate “the loser’s claustrophobia”
Read
March 23, 2026Så underhållande med många tvära kast, men Genberg är som bäst när hon stannar upp. Jag tycker om hennes sätt att fästa blicken vid något till synes alldagligt och sväva in och ut ur tanke; det är hennes öga för detaljer som ringar in författarskapet.
December 4, 2023
Riktigt bra!
Fem olika noveller som handlar om pengar. Eller om människans relation till pengar och var den kan göra med oss. Mina favoriter var 1 och 5 men tyckte att alla var väldigt bra!
Fem olika noveller som handlar om pengar. Eller om människans relation till pengar och var den kan göra med oss. Mina favoriter var 1 och 5 men tyckte att alla var väldigt bra!
July 4, 2025
Den började starkt, men tappade bort mig redan i den tredje novellen.
March 15, 2026
Success Greger: 4/5
Penance: 2/5
Speech at a Wedding: 2/5
The Loser's Claustrophobia: 4/5
Small Comfort: 3/5
Penance: 2/5
Speech at a Wedding: 2/5
The Loser's Claustrophobia: 4/5
Small Comfort: 3/5
March 31, 2026
I credibly surprised this was nominated
April 10, 2026
(3.75)
Did Not Finish
February 18, 2026DNF. Läste 3/5 berättelser och började på de båda andra men känner absolut ingenting för dem.
Did Not Finish
April 5, 2026DNF at 37%. Not my type (I'm so bored).
Longlist for The International Booker Prize 2026 8/13
Longlist for The International Booker Prize 2026 8/13
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