« older | Main Largehearted Boy Page | newer »
November 2, 2019
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week - November 2, 2019
In the weekly Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week, the Montreal bookstore recommends several new works of fiction, art books, periodicals, and comics.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is one of Montreal's premiere independent bookstores.
Palimpsest by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom
The opening of Sjöblom’s riveting debut provides the dictionary definitions of two words: the eponymous “Palimpsest”, and “Adoption”. These two ideas are at the molten core of this remarkable graphic novel, as its author remembers her upbringing as a transracial adoptee in Sweden. Sjöblom carefully unravels what it meant—and indeed what it means—to exist within these pluralities, and how to reckon one’s identity with an uncertain personal history.
What’s the Use by Sara Ahmed
Subtitled On the Uses of Use, Sara Ahmed’s latest work of dazzling theory explores use (the word and how it is, ahem, used). Picking up where she left off in The Promise of Happiness and Willful Subjects, Ahmed explores the etymology and histories of the specific word, as well as casting a critical eye over utilitarianism as a whole. As if it wasn’t already wholly apparent through her body of scholarly work, On the Uses of Use confirms that its author is one of the most important thinkers writing today.
Females by Andrea Long Chu
Females by Andrea Long Chu (the wonderful @theorygurl on twitter) opens: “Everyone is female.”, and never looks back. Chu is a writer and critic who has been credited with launching the “second wave” of trans studies. Her new collection began as an essay on a forgotten play by Valerie Solanas (author of SCUM Manifesto and would-be assassin of Andy Warhol) entitled Up Your Ass, and grew to encompass Chu’s knife-like insights on psychoanalysis, pornorgraphy, femaleness, and much more.
The Cheffe by Marie NDiaye
The eponymous Cheffe in Goncourt Prize-winner Marie NDiaye’s latest novel is raised in poverty in southwestern France, and doesn’t discover her knack for cooking until she is a teenager. Before long, the Cheffe’s culinary talent consumes her life, pushing other aspects—such as her young daughter—into the periphery. Translated from the French by Jordan Stump, The Cheffe is a toothsome addition to NDiaye’s impressive catalog.
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
Having already won numerous prizes in Japan, Hiroko Oyamada’s first novel to be translated into English has come after much anticipation. The Factory, with its beguiling, jigsaw narrative that follows factory workers whose lives slowly begin to be engulfed by their work, does not disappoint. Oyamada’s is a young literary voice that is not to be missed! To that effect, keep your eyes peeled for her follow-up entitled The Hole, out from New Directions in 2020.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly links:
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly's website
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly's blog
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Facebook page
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Tumblr
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly on Twitter
also at Largehearted Boy:
Support the Largehearted Boy website
other Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly new comics and graphic novel highlights)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Short Cuts (writers pair a song with their short story or essay)
WORD Bookstores Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)
