Bertrand Laverdure

This is a book about the importance of reading and literacy in the life of its protagonist, Ghislain. He is a professional reader of unsolicited manuscripts -- paid piece-work, so he also works at a convenience store. Literature plays a big role in his life -- probably too big a role as he seems to have trouble remaining grounded in the real world. The novel also examines Quebec literary culture. People more familiar with that genre will probably get more out of this novel than I did, but Ghislain was an interesting enough character, and the literary theme was strong enough to keep me going. The author used a variety of styles to make the structure/creativity of the book notable in itself.… (meer)