Us Against You

Fredrik Backman

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781501163128
• eBook ISBN: 9781501163166
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Can a broken town survive a second tragedy? The follow-up to the international bestseller Beartown, from #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Fredrik Backman.

After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local junior hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. As the tension between the two towns simmers, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to try to save the Beartown club.

Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more heated.

As the big game between Beartown and Hed approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.

Us Against You is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that form and color our communities. Compelling and heartbreaking, it’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions and a showcase for “Fredrik Backman’s pitch-perfect dialogue and unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: It’s Going to Be Someone’s Fault
• Chapter 2: There Are Three Types of People
• Chapter 3: Like a Man
• Chapter 4: Women Are Always the Problem
• Chapter 5: Everyone Is a Hundred Different Things
• Chapter 6: If There Isn’t a War, They Start One
• Chapter 7: Start by Eating Lunch
• Chapter 8: When a Relationship Breaks Down
• Chapter 9: He’s Going to Need Someone to Fight Tonight
• Chapter 10: How Do You Tell Your Children?
• Chapter 11: One Last Chance to Be a Winner
• Chapter 12: I Am Prepared to Burn in Here
• Chapter 13: So They Gave Him an Army
• Chapter 14: A Stranger
• Chapter 15: Vidar Rinnius
• Chapter 16: Beartown Against the Rest
• Chapter 17: Smells Blood and Catches Fire
• Chapter 18: A Woman
• Chapter 19: The Same Blue Polo Shirt
• Chapter 20: Shaving Cream in Your Shoes
• Chapter 21: He’s Lying on the Ground
• Chapter 22: Team Captain
• Chapter 23: “All It Takes for the Only Thing That Matters”
• Chapter 24: But the Bear Inside Her Has Just Woken Up
• Chapter 25: “Mother’s Song”
• Chapter 26: Whose Town Will It Be?
• Chapter 27: Hatred and Chaos
• Chapter 28: “Goddamn Homo!”
• Chapter 29: She Kills Him There
• Chapter 30: They Aren’t the Kind of People Who Get Happy Endings
• Chapter 31: Darkness
• Chapter 32: Then He Takes the Shotgun and Goes Out into the Forest
• Chapter 33: Not Waking Up
• Chapter 34: Violence Against a Horse on Official Service
• Chapter 35: But Only if You’re the Best
• Chapter 36: “Don’t Psychopaths Go for Walks, Then?”
• Chapter 37: What We’re Capable Of
• Chapter 38: The Game
• Chapter 39: Violence
• Chapter 40: Always Fair. Always Unfair.
• Chapter 41: If You Stand Tall
• Chapter 42: They Take It by Storm
• Chapter 43: We’re Everywhere
• Chapter 44: Storm and Longing
• Chapter 45: Cherry Tree
• Chapter 46: We’ll Say It Was a Road Accident
• Chapter 47: A Love Story We Will Never Forget
• Chapter 48: “Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! My Baby!”
• Chapter 49: Everyone Gets a Stick. Two Goals. Two Teams.
• Reading Group Guide
• ‘The Winners’ Teaser
• About the Author
• Copyright