Sunday book pick: A security guard’s front-row view of the consumerism mania in ‘Standing Heavy’

GauZ grew up in Côte d’Ivoire before moving to Paris as an undocumented student. He worked briefly as a security guard in the French city before returning to his home country. He has stood for long hours outside luxury shops and watched the world go by. Stationed at the frontline of hypercapitalist consumerism, he has witnessed first-hand the changes that come over human consciousness when they are in the company of expensive objects, and more importantly, when they realise they can afford it. There is delight and pride, and an instinctive feeling of superiority – all brought about by baubles we have put imaginative price tags to. This is what GauZ’s debut novel is about.

First published in the French as Debout-payé in 2014, the novel was translated into English by Frank Wynne as Standing Heavy in 2022 and shortlisted the following year for the International Booker Prize.

Instead of romance and high fashion, the reader sees Paris through the vigilant eyes of a humble security guard. Only, it’s not just a job but France’s long legacy of colonialism, racial prejudice, and neoliberalism as experienced by poor, black immigrants.

Looking in

“Standing Heavy” refers to “the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance”. The training is…

Read more