The outsider's view
A story by the Dutch writer, philosopher and columnist Désanne van Brederode, about a poet who is invited to attend a symposium for young executives and inspire a new generations of top-ranking officials with his 'crazy and comical' artistic skills. He decides to give these bigheads a good taste of their own medicine by launching a thunderous attack on anything that displeases him. However things turn out very differently…
> Translated by Michael Blass, read by David Swatling.
Biography
Désanne van Brederode
Désanne van Brederode (b. 1970) made her debut as a writer in 1994 with her controversial novel Ave verum corpus/Gegroet waarlijk lichaam. This was followed by Mensen met een hobby (2001) and Het opstaan (2004). She compiled Mijn denken is een hartstocht (2002), an anthology of nineteenth-century philosophy. Van Brederode also writes articles, gives lectures on philosophical topics and is a columnist in the political television programme Buitenhof on the VPRO. Her latest book, Modern dédain (2006), is a pamphlet in which she criticises our modern contempt for culture and science.