Set in a working-class neighborhood in Stockholm, A Burnt Child revolves around a young man named Bengt who falls into deep, private turmoil with the unexpected death of his mother. Written in a taut and beautifully naturalistic tone, it remains Stig Dagerman’s most widely read novel and is one of the crowning works of his short but celebrated career.

Contents

IntroductionPer Olov Enquist

A Burnt Child

Blowing Out a Candle

A Letter in February from Himself to Himself

Prelude to a Dream

A Letter in March from Himself to Himself

Evening Promenades

A Letter in April from Himself to Himself

Tea for Four or Five

A Letter in May from Himself to Himself

Underwater Footprints

A Letter to a Girl at Summer

A Twilight Meeting

A Letter to an Island in Autumn

A Tiger and a Gazelle

A Letter to the Father from the Son

Three o’Clock

A Torn-up Suicide Note

When the Desert Blooms

Stig Dagerman (1923–1954) was regarded as the most talented young writer of the Swedish postwar generation. Among the many books he wrote in his tragically brief life are his classics, German Autumn (Minnesota, 2011) and Island of the Doomed (Minnesota, 2012).