{"title":"Antoine Volodine","description":"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.","products":[{"product_id":"the-monroe-girls-paperback","title":"The Monroe Girls - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor 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\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBreton 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.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101899755743,"sku":"9781962770552","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/YhBpN1EdtG9781962770552.webp?v=1781075852"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/antoine-volodine.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}