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The Sufferings of this Present Time Are Not Worthy to Be Compared With the Glory Which Shall Be Revealed in Us
Matilda Gustavsson
Translated by Peter Graves
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not...
Doing the Work
Doing the Work
‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
Doing the Work
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
Doing the Work
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
Doing the Work
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
Doing the Work
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
Matilda Gustavsson
Matilda Gustavsson is a reporter and a columnist for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. She is currently working on a novel about the Word of Life movement in Sweden. She lives in Stockholm.
More about the author →Translated by Peter Graves
Peter Graves is an Honorary Fellow of Scandinavian Studies in the University of Edinburgh, where he taught for many years.
More about the translator →