Playboy

“Playboy is ruthless in its depiction of social conventions: romance, family, career, stability. Yet there is immense relief in Debré’s refusal to be consoled by the world, a glimmer—which grows stronger in the later novels, Love Me Tender and Name—of the possibility for something else.”—Hannah Tennant-Moore, The New York Times“I find Debré’s exquisite achievement not to reside in the realm of advice or guides for living. It’s in that cold sliver of voice, conducting electricity at a high voltage, sending the occasional shower of sparks off the page.”—Christine Smallwood, Bookforum“You cannot be neutral reading Playboy; every page compels the projection of the reader’s own class, raising to the surface all the percolating bitterness we feel for what we’ve had or haven’t.”—Estelle Hoy, Spike“If Debré’s novels were monotonously cynical or grim they would be far less pleasurable to read. They are brutal, but they are also something more—and that is very, very funny.”—Anahid Nersessian, The New York Review of Books

Constance Debré left her career as a lawyer to become a writer. Her other novels include Love Me Tender (published in 2022), Un peu là, beaucoup ailleurs (winner of the 2005 Prix Contrepoint), and Manuel pratique de l’idéal Abécédaire de survie.