-Grandpa says everyone should leave me alone. If I want to be a boy, then I-m a boy: simple as that.-
Writing in the wake of her father-s death, the narrator of Pirkko Saisio-s autofictional novel transports us to the 1950s Finland of her youth, where she navigates life as an only child of communist parents. Convinced she will grow up to become a man, a young Pirkko keeps trying and failing to meet the expectations of the adults around her.
With wit and style, Saisio captures the heart-wrenching intensity of childhood feeling, merging fever dreams with sensory-laden memories as each formative experience - with the Big Bad Wolf, a bikini-clad circus announcer, and Jesus Christ himself - drives her further and further from her family and others. Struggling to understand her place in the world around her, it-s in language that she discovers a refuge and a way to be seen at last.
An unforgettable story of transformation, Lowest Common Denominator is the
