The Answer Is No

by Fredrik Backman

Absolutely zero people go to therapy because yesterday they were sitting in a comfortable chair, eating a perfect pizza, drinking a good glass of red wine, watching a really funny movie. So that’s how Lucas lives, all the time. If you imagine

He is a perfect combination of nothing.

Because Lucas’s research into human relationships on TV has led him to conclude that love is between two people: One just wants to sit down, and the other one gets stressed out by that.

Because do you know what children are? Another human being.

You have to position yourself somewhere right between “What a great guy!” and “He seems . . . weird.”

Lucas curses himself. Being smart is the worst thing one can be in modern society. All it ever means is more work.

Because Lucas is making the mistake of thinking that the board wants to solve the problem. But people actually almost never want to do that.

Because a funny thing about rule-loving people is that to them it seems more important to impose punishment than it is to actually solve problems, and a funny thing about rule-breaking people is that they seem to find breaking rules a lot easier to do if someone else has broken them first.

Lucas shudders, because “responsibility” and “commitment” are actually two of the easiest ways of ruining any perfectly good day.

Lucas stands quietly for a very, very long time, thinking about how awful it must feel: to be a person who so desperately wants something to happen. Lucas never wants anything to go on at all.

but I miss . . . making up. It’s like we’re choosing each other all over again when that happens.”

For a short moment, Lucas thinks that this strange feeling he is experiencing is a fever. Maybe he’s coming down with a cold? But then he realizes it’s something much, much worse. It’s empathy. Fortunately, his doorbell rings, and then that feeling passes almost immediately.

“It would be good if we could appear consistent, yes. Being consistent is the opposite of being wrong.” “If we’re wrong, we may be

There is silence for a moment, before the board shouts very, very happily: “Oh no! Now we’re . . . powerless.”

Because the doctors and nurses understand very well that all the modern pills and treatments are surely great, but sometimes what people really need most of all is a prescription for a break.