The French bestseller Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier — which translates as So You Don’t Get Lost in the Neighborhood — is a haunting novel of suspense in which a single, unexpected phone call to a man living quietly in Paris launches a chain of menacing encounters and events, unlocking a dark secret he had erased from memory. HMH will publish a translation of the novel by Euan Cameron in late 2015.
The acquisition of Modiano’s novel further expands HMH’s list of Nobel laureates, which includes Jose Saramago, Gunter Grass and Wislawa Szymborska and distinguished writers in translation including Umberto Eco, Amos Oz, and Italo Calvino.
Bruce Nichols, General Interest Publisher at HMH commented, “We are thrilled to add Patrick Modiano to our list of award-winning authors. The psychological suspense in this short book is riveting to the last page, and Modiano’s style is subtle and rich. He deserves a wide audience in the United States, and with this novel, I believe he will finally find it.”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2014 was awarded to Modiano "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.” Modiano is the author of over 30 works which have been translated into more than 30 languages. Previously, he has won the 2012 Austrian State Prize for European Literature, the 2010 Prix mondial Cino Del Duca for lifetime achievement from the Institut de France, the Prix Goncourt for Rue des boutiques obscures, and the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française for Les Boulevards de ceinture.
HMH acquired North American rights from literary agent Georges Borchardt representing Gallimard, which originally published the title in France in October 2014. Rights to the novel have been acquired in sixteen other foreign territories.
For nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade division has published some of the world’s most renowned novels, non-fiction, children’s books and reference works. As part of one of the world’s leading learning companies, it is uniquely positioned to create educational and entertaining content for multiple channels and in various formats — from hardcovers and paperbacks to eBooks and mobile apps. Its distinguished author list includes eight Nobel Prize winners, forty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners, thirteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O'Brien, and Umberto Eco, and a celebrated roster of children’s authors and illustrators including Lois Lowry, Chris Van Allsburg and David Wiesner. HMH is also home to The Best American series®; The American Heritage® and Webster’s New World™ dictionaries; Betty Crocker®, Better Homes and Gardens®, How to Cook Everything®, The Gourmet Cookbook, and other leading culinary properties; the Peterson Field Guides®; CliffsNotes; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children’s books and characters including Curious George®, The Little Prince and The Polar Express.
MEDIA CONTACT
Lori Glazer
VP, Executive Director of Publicity
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
212 420-5840
Lori.Glazer@hmhco.com
Forward Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain statements that are not historical facts, including information regarding our intentions, beliefs, or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, the industry in which we operate, and potential business decisions. Those statements constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in or implied by our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in state and local education funding and/or related programs, legislation, and procurement processes; adverse or worsening economic trends or the continuation of current economic conditions; changes in consumer demand for, and acceptance of, our products; industry cycles and trends; conditions and/or changes in the publishing industry; and other factors discussed in our news releases, public statements and/or filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation, and do not expect, to publicly update or publicly revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.