Twice a month, a public figure tells us what they are reading at the moment. This week: actor and director Mathieu Quesnel, who will present the theatrical experience at La Licorne in May Pirate Project as well as his piece The Donkey Sisters.
A hint of a smile
“The author tells anecdotes, memories, he talks a lot about his children. It’s a collection of all his little writings and I’ve read it everywhere – while traveling, on planes, in cafes. It reads well throughout because it’s small segments and it’s really funny. I laughed a lot. I recognized myself a little in him because he has young children. He plays a lot with language, too. We understand that he is a guy who says funny things and who creates discomfort. It’s full of little remarks about everyday life, like when he goes grocery shopping and something weird happens with the cashier, but it’s ridiculous all the time! »
A hint of a smile
Cardinal
240 pages
The worst moments in history
“ Charles Beauchesne made a podcast series and it was made into a comic book. I found out about it because someone picked it up for my son at the library. He left it lying around and had to bring it back, and then I started reading it. It’s hard, I find, to write texts that really make you laugh. I really like his tone, it’s really funny. He was inspired by real facts from history, things that went wrong, and then he made humor about it. The first was Franklin’s lost expedition trying to find a route north and all the boats were getting stuck in the ice. It’s like an excuse to make jokes, it brings out absurdities. It made me laugh. »
The worst moments in history
Cold Front
160 pages
Acid test
“ This book is like the whole LSD period in the United States – when LSD was legal, but jar was illegal! It chronicles Ken Kesey’s journey with his gang of farts [les Merry Pranksters]. They did fly shows, played music, it was a bit like multitasking poets. They were followers of the present moment, but they were a little too old to be hippies and a little too young to be beatniks. It tells about their summer of 1964 and the crazy things they did. It’s really fun because it’s a book that allows you to transport yourself to the United States in that period when there was a kind of beginning of literary freedom. »
Acid test
Points
408 pages