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Fiction Literary

Volkswagen Blues

by (author) Jacques Poulin

translated by Sheila Fischman

Publisher
Cormorant Books
Initial publish date
Nov 2004
Category
Literary
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781770860681
    Publish Date
    Nov 2004
    List Price
    $9.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781896951423
    Publish Date
    Nov 2004
    List Price
    $19.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

In this classic road novel, Jacques Poulin tells the story of a man in search of his brother. The geographical journey — through Detroit, into Chicago, on to St. Louis, along the Oregon Trail and into California — becomes a metaphor for the exploration of the history of the French in North America.

About the authors

Jacques Poulin, born in 1938 in Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, Quebec, is one of the leading novelists of his generation. Author of over a dozen novels, including Volkswagen Blues which introduced him to a wider American and Canadian audience he has received many prizes.

Award-winning translator Sheila Fischman has translated over 150 Quebec novels from French to English, including Michel Tremblay, Marie-Claire Blais and Kim Thúy. She is a recipient of the Molson Prize for the Arts.

Jacques Poulin's profile page

Sheila Fischman's profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Canada Reads

Editorial Reviews

“Jacques Poulin is one of the finest and most underrated novelists in Quebec. Volkswagen Blues confirms his calibre as a writer, and may give him the reputation he deserves.”

The Globe and Mail

“Shares a mix of detached humour, fantasy and compassion with Vonnegut and Salinger.”

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

“A wonderfully lively and entertaining trip … this book is full of incidental pleasures, odd characters, bizarre incidents, moments of poetry — some of them very comic — that spring as much from the author’s own generosity of spirit as from the richness of things. This is a splendid book.”

The Toronto Star

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