--- product_id: 262219070 title: "A Little Life" price: "685 kr" currency: NOK in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.no/products/262219070-a-little-life store_origin: NO region: Norway --- # 4.5/5 from nearly 90K readers Finalist for 2 major literary awards 700 pages of immersive storytelling A Little Life **Price:** 685 kr **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the unforgettable story that everyone’s talking about—because some books change you forever. ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** A Little Life - **How much does it cost?** 685 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.no](https://www.desertcart.no/products/262219070-a-little-life) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Award-Winning Acclaim:** Experience a National Book Award and Man Booker Prize finalist that defines modern literary excellence. - • **Epic Literary Journey:** Dive into 700 pages of masterful prose that grips you from start to finish. - • **Top-Ranked Bestseller:** Secure your copy of a top 150 bestseller in Literary and Contemporary Fiction—don’t miss out! - • **Deep Emotional Resonance:** Explore complex themes of friendship, trauma, and resilience that spark profound reflection. - • **Cultivate Empathy & Insight:** Join a community of readers transformed by this powerful narrative on human connection. ## Overview A Little Life is a critically acclaimed, 700-page novel by Hanya Yanagihara that explores the enduring power of friendship and love amidst trauma and hardship. A finalist for the National Book Award and Man Booker Prize, it has captivated nearly 90,000 readers with its profound emotional depth and masterful storytelling, ranking high in literary and contemporary fiction categories. ## Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A stunning "portrait of the enduring grace of friendship" ( NPR ) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST - WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates--broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition--as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara's stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Review: One of the finest novels I've read - Quite possibly one of the finest novels I've had the pleasure of reading. Epic, devastating, enduring, challenging, deeply moving. Such confident prose that unravels the innermost thoughts of these beautifully-drawn characters while also achieving an acute sense of sonder; and also written with admirable, aching restraint of deeply challenging and confronting topics; the effects of which I feel will be impressed upon me for a long time. I've come away thinking of the astonishing depths of depravity of humanity (and especially reading this in the context of the Epstein files which is desperately resonant) but more significantly of the enduring power of human companionship and kindness, with the nuance that you must extend kindness to yourself if you find that, after all, sometimes kindness isn't enough. Don't be intimidated by its length; if anything, I almost wished it was longer with how attached I became to the characters! The pacing, developments, and revelations unfold with care, confidence, and with seeds whose significance produce immense emotional power in time, and you will be rewarded for it. Highly recommend. Review: Jude St. Francis: what a life to live, and what a man to live it. - A Little Life, a 700-page journey, by Hanya Yanagihara is the second 2015 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel I have read; the first was The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota. Both of these novels I have read in 10 days, with A Little Life taking 6 – a testament to the quality of the novels. But, how do I begin with this review? Will my review do justice to this novel, and to what Hanya Yanagihara has achieved? First, the author's writing style makes this book, despite its size, very readable. For example: "They bragged of what they would be doing if they hadn't gone into this wretched industry: they'd be a curator (possibly the one job where'd you make even less than you did now), a sommelier (well, make that two jobs), a gallery owner (make it three), a writer (all right, four - clearly none of them were equipped to make money, ever, in any imagining)." Even though I've described this book as "readable", that doesn't mean the book lacks in quality prose; the novel is almost poetic; it rolls off your tongue whilst making your imagination go wild, whether it be through rich, descriptive scenes or honing on particular qualities of a character within the novel. Of course, this also means the book is subtly humorous, with lines beginning like: “There was a bathroom (unspeakable) and a kitchen (slightly less horrifying)..." Some reviewers have said that the length of the novel is too long and they have had to skip pages. For me, I was so engrossed with the novel that this wasn’t that much of an issue (though, I did skip the odd paragraph once in a while) This novel, ultimately, revolves around a man called Jude St. Francis. Don’t be mistaken, his fate has been devastatingly cruel to him. From abandonment, to (extreme) physical and sexual abuse, including (again, extreme) domestic violence, to self-harm, Jude’s life has been one that, when you read it, you will have to put the book down just give yourself a breather. But the skill of Hanya Yanagihara is such that there is never anything crude, explicit or too graphic: the writing speaks for itself. Despite the cruel unfolding and slow revelation of past events, present horrors, and future uncertainties, there were some really touching moments, I thought, in the novel too. Actually, they were jam-packed with touching moments. But, (again) the talent of Hanya Yanagihara is such that these moments didn't feel excessive or repetitive. They just flowed naturally. An example of one of these touching moments is when Jude is sleeping over at Harold's, one of his professors and for whom he's a research assistant for, and whilst in bed at his home, Jude "...pretended that they [Harold and Julia] were his parents, and he was home for the weekend from law school to visit them, and this was his room, and the next day he would get up and do whatever it was that grown children did with their parents." This, of course, to someone who has not read this novel is meaningless. But to someone who has, it is profound. And the simple-ness of this line is deceptive; it doesn’t really convey to you the emotional weight it carries (guess you have to read the novel to understand why I am saying this, right?) However, now that I have finished the novel, I must say, it is over the top (or it might not be? Do read on with the review to understand my confusion). The things Jude has been through, I'm finding it so hard to believe that one person could have been through so much (or is that my relatively sheltered life speaking?). How can someone like Jude have been through the terrible events that have marked his life, and yet carry on surviving? Not only surviving, but being surrounded by loving, devoted people and having a hugely successful career? Heck, by half way through the book, I was surprised every time Jude smiled or laughed! Or is this what this book is saying? That is, the power of human resolve; the effect of love, friendship, and meaningful relationships? And when one person has these things, no matter what they have been though in life, they can, still, smile. Jude's self-harming is also something that baffles me. As someone who hasn't been around people who self-harm (or know anything regarding the psychology of it), I just don't know if the book is over the top with the self-harming, or are there people out there whose lives are like Jude? Ultimately, for me, what this book is, is a sad, but honorable (and at time humorous and heart-warming), tale of friendship, heart-break, sorrow, regret, happiness, meaning, relationships, and life (and so much more!). Never in my life, so far, have I wished for a fictional character (am I crazy?) so much happiness and contentment. Though the book ended in a rather predictable way, it feels as though to me it is the only ending that would of made Jude happy; an ending that he needed, and maybe the reader wanted because you grow to care for Jude as much as Willem, or Harold, Andy, Julia, Richard, JB, and countless more. I will be surprised if someone reads this novel, and doesn’t reflect upon their own life, and, perhaps, even change the way in which they go about treating others. And isn’t this the best testament to how great a novel is? By how much a novel mpacts YOU. ## Features - Warning:This toy does not provide protection - A Little Life ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 87,534 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 31 in Coming of Age 136 in Literary Fiction (Books) 216 in Contemporary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 89,982 Reviews | ## Images ![A Little Life - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81b1xsqo2OL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the finest novels I've read *by S***R on 4 March 2026* Quite possibly one of the finest novels I've had the pleasure of reading. Epic, devastating, enduring, challenging, deeply moving. Such confident prose that unravels the innermost thoughts of these beautifully-drawn characters while also achieving an acute sense of sonder; and also written with admirable, aching restraint of deeply challenging and confronting topics; the effects of which I feel will be impressed upon me for a long time. I've come away thinking of the astonishing depths of depravity of humanity (and especially reading this in the context of the Epstein files which is desperately resonant) but more significantly of the enduring power of human companionship and kindness, with the nuance that you must extend kindness to yourself if you find that, after all, sometimes kindness isn't enough. Don't be intimidated by its length; if anything, I almost wished it was longer with how attached I became to the characters! The pacing, developments, and revelations unfold with care, confidence, and with seeds whose significance produce immense emotional power in time, and you will be rewarded for it. Highly recommend. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jude St. Francis: what a life to live, and what a man to live it. *by R***B on 26 September 2015* A Little Life, a 700-page journey, by Hanya Yanagihara is the second 2015 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel I have read; the first was The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota. Both of these novels I have read in 10 days, with A Little Life taking 6 – a testament to the quality of the novels. But, how do I begin with this review? Will my review do justice to this novel, and to what Hanya Yanagihara has achieved? First, the author's writing style makes this book, despite its size, very readable. For example: "They bragged of what they would be doing if they hadn't gone into this wretched industry: they'd be a curator (possibly the one job where'd you make even less than you did now), a sommelier (well, make that two jobs), a gallery owner (make it three), a writer (all right, four - clearly none of them were equipped to make money, ever, in any imagining)." Even though I've described this book as "readable", that doesn't mean the book lacks in quality prose; the novel is almost poetic; it rolls off your tongue whilst making your imagination go wild, whether it be through rich, descriptive scenes or honing on particular qualities of a character within the novel. Of course, this also means the book is subtly humorous, with lines beginning like: “There was a bathroom (unspeakable) and a kitchen (slightly less horrifying)..." Some reviewers have said that the length of the novel is too long and they have had to skip pages. For me, I was so engrossed with the novel that this wasn’t that much of an issue (though, I did skip the odd paragraph once in a while) This novel, ultimately, revolves around a man called Jude St. Francis. Don’t be mistaken, his fate has been devastatingly cruel to him. From abandonment, to (extreme) physical and sexual abuse, including (again, extreme) domestic violence, to self-harm, Jude’s life has been one that, when you read it, you will have to put the book down just give yourself a breather. But the skill of Hanya Yanagihara is such that there is never anything crude, explicit or too graphic: the writing speaks for itself. Despite the cruel unfolding and slow revelation of past events, present horrors, and future uncertainties, there were some really touching moments, I thought, in the novel too. Actually, they were jam-packed with touching moments. But, (again) the talent of Hanya Yanagihara is such that these moments didn't feel excessive or repetitive. They just flowed naturally. An example of one of these touching moments is when Jude is sleeping over at Harold's, one of his professors and for whom he's a research assistant for, and whilst in bed at his home, Jude "...pretended that they [Harold and Julia] were his parents, and he was home for the weekend from law school to visit them, and this was his room, and the next day he would get up and do whatever it was that grown children did with their parents." This, of course, to someone who has not read this novel is meaningless. But to someone who has, it is profound. And the simple-ness of this line is deceptive; it doesn’t really convey to you the emotional weight it carries (guess you have to read the novel to understand why I am saying this, right?) However, now that I have finished the novel, I must say, it is over the top (or it might not be? Do read on with the review to understand my confusion). The things Jude has been through, I'm finding it so hard to believe that one person could have been through so much (or is that my relatively sheltered life speaking?). How can someone like Jude have been through the terrible events that have marked his life, and yet carry on surviving? Not only surviving, but being surrounded by loving, devoted people and having a hugely successful career? Heck, by half way through the book, I was surprised every time Jude smiled or laughed! Or is this what this book is saying? That is, the power of human resolve; the effect of love, friendship, and meaningful relationships? And when one person has these things, no matter what they have been though in life, they can, still, smile. Jude's self-harming is also something that baffles me. As someone who hasn't been around people who self-harm (or know anything regarding the psychology of it), I just don't know if the book is over the top with the self-harming, or are there people out there whose lives are like Jude? Ultimately, for me, what this book is, is a sad, but honorable (and at time humorous and heart-warming), tale of friendship, heart-break, sorrow, regret, happiness, meaning, relationships, and life (and so much more!). Never in my life, so far, have I wished for a fictional character (am I crazy?) so much happiness and contentment. Though the book ended in a rather predictable way, it feels as though to me it is the only ending that would of made Jude happy; an ending that he needed, and maybe the reader wanted because you grow to care for Jude as much as Willem, or Harold, Andy, Julia, Richard, JB, and countless more. I will be surprised if someone reads this novel, and doesn’t reflect upon their own life, and, perhaps, even change the way in which they go about treating others. And isn’t this the best testament to how great a novel is? By how much a novel mpacts YOU. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nothing like I've read before. *by M***S on 23 June 2016* A Little Life is nothing like I've ever read before. From just the first 25 pages It felt like I already knew so much about the characters. It's a mammoth of a book but is definitely worth the read. A Little Life is about JD, Jude, Willem and Malcolm, who are four classmates that move to New York. The book tells you about how they live in New York and how their relationship get deeper and more complicated the more they get to know each other. I don't want to say anything else but I will say that the overall book is very harrowing but very intriguing. All the characters have their own lives in the book but the main character is Jude. You learn all about his troubles in his past and what he is currently going through in the present. Everyone who reads this book is bound to feel for Jude because I know I did. It's not just the events that happen to Jude but it's the writing too, it sucks you in and you have not choice to feel all his emotions. The roller coaster of emotions he goes through, you will end up going through also, and you will be totally drained by the end of the book. This book is full of all depressing subjects and I can see why some people are saying that it is too dull and gloomy and unrealistic, but it is an addictive read, I was hooked. Once I started reading all I thought about were all the characters and what they would be doing and up to next. I never wanted to put the book down and I tried to find all the free time I could to read all 720 pages. Some people might be put off by the size of the book and the small font. I know when I first opened the book I was a little daunted about the amount of pages and the tiny font, but once you start reading you forget about all that and just notice the beautiful writing and the brilliant stories. Hanya Yanagihara's writing is a pleasure to read and makes you want never finish the book. While reading you go through every emotion ten times over and you go from feeling all warm and fuzzy inside to feeling sad and lonely. While you read you learn so much about the character but the writing isn't full of boring descriptions. I hate reading books that are full of useless descriptions that are there just to bulk out the book, but this book has no filler. All the writing is needed to make you feel for all the characters and every reader will be in tears at some point in the book. Overall I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to read a story full of character development with hard hitting subjects. No one should be put off by the size of the book because it is worth it. Yes this book is a very harrowing and and some parts a depressing but it is also an addictive and thought provoking read. I rate this book 4/5 stars ## Frequently Bought Together - A Little Life - The Handmaid's Tale - 1984: 75th Anniversary --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.no/products/262219070-a-little-life](https://www.desertcart.no/products/262219070-a-little-life) --- *Product available on Desertcart Norway* *Store origin: NO* *Last updated: 2026-09-16*