On Stanley Péan’s bedside table

Twice a month, a public figure tells us what they are reading at the moment. This week: Stanley Péan, who celebrates his 35 years of literary career this year and whose new illustrated collection of short stories, Postcards from beyond the worldhas just been published simultaneously with the reissue of his very first, The beach of dreamsas well as his new biography of a leading musician of Quebec jazz, Michel Donato: blue on the spot.

The latest revival of Opal & Nev

The latest revival of Opal & Nev

Dawnie Walton (translated from English by David Fauquemberg)

Zulma

512 pages

“ It is a first American novel whose form flirts with orality. It tells a fictional story that spans from the dawn of the civil rights movements to the years of Donald Trump. [L’autrice] tried to recreate the structure of documentaries on rock in writing, but it is really a fiction which is carried by an epic romantic breath. It follows a young woman who begins to investigate a story that is both current and personal because it is her father’s relationship with Opal Jewel, who formed a famous duo with him like Ike and Tina Turner. It’s everything that happened between them, the era, too, of 1970s rock. It’s really fascinating, the way it’s constructed. »

At Gardette square

At Gardette square

Robert Racine

Boreal

312 pages

“ It is a biographical essay on the life of Quebec composer Claude Vivier. Orphan, adopted by a modest family in which he will be [agressé] sexually, he will become one of the stars of Canadian electroacoustic music. From June 1982, he stayed in Paris thanks to a grant from the Arts Council and worked on writing an opera about Tchaikovsky. He was murdered on March 7, 1983, at the age of 34, by a young prostitute. Rober Racine is a writer, also a composer, and he was a friend of Claude Vivier in the last years of his life. In this book, he reflects on the link between murder and creation and will offer us his perception of Vivier’s trajectory. »

Zen in the Art of Writing

Zen in the Art of Writing

Ray Bradbury

Bantam

176 pages

“ I’ve been an admirer of Bradbury since I was a teenager, and yet I only recently came across this book by chance. It dates from 1990. Essentially, it’s a book about his love for writing. I read the first chapters and it’s pure delight. It’s a collection of articles that have been published right and left, his practical advice on the art of writing, from finding ideas to developing your own style; at the same time, it is the story of his career as a prolific author. That’s not a how to book, it is truly a reflection and a tribute to writing, to literature and, above all, to the art of the storyteller. »