The French author does not want to admit that he has suffered a backlash after seven books. Criticism of repetition began after his second book.
Only a blind bourgeoisie can say that the books are about the same thing, he says, declaring his disinterest in delivering literary surprises.
He digs deep and allows himself to be flooded with memories.
In Sweden he attracts large audiences. The stage performance in Stockholm sold out immediately, which meant he added two extra performances.
There are writers who draw audiences like pop stars - I don’t. But I have a loyal and engaged audience that is emotionally attached to my work, says Édouard Louis, who wants to build “a close and solid” relationship with his readership.
If I address the reader directly, it is much harder to look away. The intimate way of writing becomes a political technique.
Most difficult
The new book, "The Collapse," is about an older brother whose violence cannot be fully explained, and it is also the most difficult he has written.
The books about Édouard Louis' upbringing, about his father and mother, despite their brutal honesty, led to reconciliation with both of them. The father, who broke his back in a serious workplace accident, eventually abandoned his racism and homophobia, and the mother freed herself from two men with alcohol problems.
But with the older brother, no reconciliation would have been possible even if he had lived, Édouard Louis believes. After the first book in 2014, the brother took the train to Paris to beat his then-21-year-old younger brother, the author, to death with a baseball bat.
My brother represents a level of violence that is incomparable; he beat women, he tried to kill me because of my homosexuality, he beat his dog and my father, and he was verbally extremely violent.
Brokenness
Writing about it was costly. But was it necessary to reveal the details of the brother's brokenness?
Yes, what I am left with is the “impossible”. If you are going to write autobiographically, you have to free yourself completely from decency, you have to pursue the radical, and that also applies to yourself. That is when you manage to touch something. “The private” is a political and social boundary.
But performing in front of an audience in the Picardy region where he grew up is not an option, not even in Amiens, where he went to high school.
There are more people like my brother in my family too; I would risk my safety.
Born: 1992 in Hallencourt, France, as Eddy Bellegueule. Changed his name in 2013.
Lives: In Paris.
Career: Debuted with "Göra sig kvitt Eddy Bellegueule" (Swedish edition 2015), which was a big hit in France and was translated into 20 languages. He has also written "Vem dödade min far" about his father and "En kvinnas libergörelse" and "Monique flyr" about his mother.
Currently: Writing on the theme of liberation. The book "Monique Flyr", about his mother's rebirth at the age of 50, made Édouard Louis see that even joy can be political.
Currently reading: "I Am a Fool to Love You" by Camila Sosa Villada.
On the political situation ahead of the 2027 French presidential election: "Among the upper classes there is increasingly a war against the left, while the extreme right is increasingly accepted. It scares me."
