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Universal Bureau of Copyrights
By Bertrand Laverdure
Translated by Oana Avasilichioaei
From celebrated Quebecois author Bertrand Laverdure comes Universal Bureau of Copyrights , a bold, strange and addictive story that envisions a world where free will doesn't exist, and an enigmatic global corporation buys and sells the copyrights for all things on Earth, including ... Read more
Overview
From celebrated Quebecois author Bertrand Laverdure comes Universal Bureau of Copyrights , a bold, strange and addictive story that envisions a world where free will doesn't exist, and an enigmatic global corporation buys and sells the copyrights for all things on Earth, including real and fictional characters. Through this novel, which is part poetic narrative, part sci-fi-dystopian fantasy, readers become acquainted with the main character, a man who deconstructs himself as he navigates the mystifying passages of the story. Having no control over his environment, time continuum, or body, he is a puppet on strings, an icon in a video game and, as he eventually discovers within the bowels of the Universal Bureau of Copyrights, the object of countless copyrights. With touches of Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and Sterne's Tristram Shandy, Universal Bureau of Copyrights packs a multitude of modern cultural references into an audacious exploration of identity and one's place in the world.
Bertrand Laverdure
Montreal-based poet, novelist, and literary performer Bertrand Laverdure is the author of six novels, including Universal Bureau of Copyrights (2014) and Readopolis (2017, winner, Governor General's Literary Award for Translation), both translated by Oana Avasilichioaei. His many poetry publications include Cascadeuse (2013) and Sept et demi (2007). He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts (1999) and the Rina Lasnier Prize for Poetry (2003) for Les forêts (2000). He was a literary chronicler on MAtv and CIBL Radio, and Poet Laureate of Montreal from 2015 to 2017.
Oana Avasilichioaei
Oana Avasilichioaei is a poet, translator, and sound artist based in Montreal. She has translated many books of poetry and prose from French and Romanian, including Bertrand Laverdure’s Readopolis (Book*hug 2017, Governor General Literary Award) and Catherine Lalonde’s The Faerie Devouring (Book*hug 2018, QWF’s Cole Foundation Prize for Translation).
Reviews
"Laverdure's clever commentary on identity, ownership, and control keeps us guessing right up to the end. "
- The Times Literary Supplement
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- Dimensions 152 pages, 5.10 x 7.10 x .30 in
- Published October 1, 2014
- Publisher Book*hug Press
- Category Fiction
- Keywords Dystopian , Adventure , Literary
Other titles by Bertrand Laverdure
Other titles by Oana Avasilichioaei
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