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For readers of Thomas Pynchon, a conspiratorial adventure through a bleak future where the dead (and their political factions) never really die, from one of France's most visionary writers.
Breton has seen brighter days. Now his body sags as he pulls a pair of binoculars to his withered face. He peers from the grimy window of a near-empty psychiatric compound—one of the last buildings standing after an unspecified disaster—spying rue Dellwo below, dreary in perpetual rain. Into this world of devastation drop the Monroe girls—paramilitaries trained in the "dark place" by Monroe, a dissident executed long ago. Their mission to revamp the Party is futile in this bleak, decaying world. Breton, our schizophrenic narrator, is tasked (and tortured) by what remains of the Party to locate and identify the Monroe girls using special optical equipment and his powers of extrasensory perception. Breton's journey through a bardo-like, hostile labyrinth invites us into a sensual swirl of bodily decay, political acquiescence, and civilizational collapse. In this derelict setting, Volodine ruminates on identity, surveillance, life after death, and love (which, alas, does not conquer all). An urgent and blistering tale, beautifully rendered with Volodine's distinct pathos and humor.
"An elusive, centrifugal story of a grim near future that might stop George Orwell in his tracks...lively and beguiling." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Fascinating and sardonic...Volodine maintains control of the vivid images and wild flights of fancy, which range from spiders and sea urchins sprouting from human flesh to talk of cosmonauts and telepathy, thanks to his grounded and ironic prose. It's a delight." —Publishers Weekly
This information about The Monroe Girls was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
One of the most important figures in France's contemporary literary landscape, Antoine Volodine writes under at least four heteronyms, including Lutz Bassmann and Manuela Draeger. He taught Russian in French secondary schools for many years before his debut novel, Comparative Biography of Jorian Murgrave, appeared in France in 1985. Most of his prolific output, including The Monroe Girls, take place in a post-apocalyptic world where members of the "post-exoticism" writing movement have been arrested for their subversive literary efforts.
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