We Need to Talk About Kevin

　　本書已改編為電影【凱文怎麼了？】，為坎城影展競賽片並獲得英國獨立電影獎6項大獎提名(最佳電影、最佳導演、最佳改編劇本、最佳女主角、最佳男配角)，由奧斯卡最佳女配角蒂妲絲雲頓(Tilda Swinton)主演。

　　我們是著了什麼魔？原本如此的快樂！那麼為什麼，
　　我們會以所擁有的一切為賭注，投入這場豪賭，決定生小孩？

　　1999年的一個星期四，即將滿16歲的凱文，在校園內射殺了9個人。他的母親艾娃在一連串寫給丈夫的懺悔信中，回溯懷胎前的猶豫及懷胎後生下凱文，一直到兒子成了殺人犯的整個過程。這位母親自兒子一出生起就討厭他。凱文隨著成長所展露出的毀滅性格更是令她心生畏懼。艾娃試圖從回顧中釐清自己所應背負的過錯與導致這樁慘劇的原因，到最後竟發展出始料未及的結果……

　　在這本描繪扭曲母性的精彩小說裡，以校園慘案兇手母親的角度，尖銳地探討美國文化與青少年犯罪之間的關聯，更藉由凱文這個極端的例子，碰觸了一個極為敏感的問題──母親無法接受自己的孩子。作者不時在書中展現精闢的見解，讓讀者對艾娃在譴責與同情之間擺盪。故事接近尾聲時出現懾人心魄的驚悚、扣人心弦的領悟，在讀者內心留下巨大衝擊。

　　Eva never really wanted to be a mother; certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who tried to befriend him. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood and Kevin’s horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her absent husband, Franklyn. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.Adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay (Morvern Callar,Ratcatcher), the film ofWe Need to Talk About Kevin stars Tila Swinton (I Am Love) and John C. Reilly (The Aviator), with Ezra Miller (Californication) as the eponymous teenage murderer.

　　本書中譯版《凱文怎麼了？》由台灣商務出版。

作者簡介

蘭諾．絲薇佛 (Lionel Shriver)

　　小說家。曾為《經濟學人》、《華爾街日報》、《費城詢問報》及其他出版刊物撰稿。現居於倫敦及紐約。著有《雙誤》（Double Fault）、《完美好家庭》（A Perfectly Good Family）、《遊戲控制》（Game Control）、《淌血的心》（The Bleeding Heart）、《查克與德瑞拉》（Checker and the Derailleurs）、《女性物種》（The Female of the Species）。其小說內容深具爆發力且發人深省，擄獲了不少忠實的讀者。本書堪稱絲薇佛的成名代表作，榮獲2005年英國柑橘文學獎小說獎。

　　Lionel Shriver is a novelist whose previous books include Orange Prize winnerWe Need to Talk About Kevin,So Much for That, The Post-Birthday World,A Perfectly Good Family, Game Control, Double Fault, The Female of the Species,Checker and the Derailleurs, andOrdinary Decent Criminals. She is widely published as a journalist, writing features, columns, op-eds, and book reviews for theGuardian, theNew York Times, theWall Street Journal, theFinancial Times, theEconomist,Marie Claire, and many other publications. She is frequently interviewed on television, radio, and in print media. She lives in London and Brooklyn, NY.