To those who have everything, I have never seen a family go to the sea to celebrate a political decision, because for them politics changes almost nothing. I realized this when I went to live in Paris, far from you: the rulers can complain about a left-wing government, they can complain about a right-wing government, but no government ever tears their guts apart, no government ever breaks their back, no government ever makes them go to the sea. Politics does not change their lives or changes them very little. It is strange, they are the ones who practice politics while politics has almost no effect on their lives. For the rulers, politics is usually a matter of aesthetics: a way to think about themselves, a way to see the world, to shape their identity. For us, it was a matter of life and death.

The third book by Édouard Louis, is a monologue addressed to his father in an attempt at explanation and reconciliation. It is simultaneously a heavy indictment of the political and social order, which condemns people to a harsh and limited life, poor in experiences and feelings, while at the same time denouncing them as idle.