{"product_id":"the-monroe-girls-9781962770552","title":"The Monroe Girls","description":"\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 \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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Antoine Volodine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Archipelago Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.02h x 5.92w x 0.72d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781962770552\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/12\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most important figures in France's contemporary literary landscape, \u003cb\u003eAntoine Volodine\u003c\/b\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eComparative Biography of Jorian Murgrave\u003c\/i\u003e, appeared in France in 1985. Most of his prolific output, including \u003ci\u003eThe Monroe Girls\u003c\/i\u003e, take place in a post-apocalyptic world where members of the \"post-exoticism\" writing movement have been arrested for their subversive literary efforts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlyson Waters\u003c\/b\u003e is a prize-winning translator of French and francophone literary fiction, art history, philosophy, and children's books. She has translated works by Albert Cossery, Louis Aragon, René Belletto, Jean Giono, Eric Chevillard, Jean-Patrick Manchette, Emmanuel Bove, Claude Ponti, and many others. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship, a PEN Translation Fund grant, and was awarded the French-American Foundation Translation Prize twice. She taught literary translation at Yale for three decades and currently teaches at Columbia University. She lives in Brooklyn.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Antoine Volodine \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47754055778461,"sku":"9781962770552","price":37.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_0066ce16-0bf2-4a80-be9d-af948fb9a6fc.jpg?v=1774332209","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-monroe-girls-9781962770552","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}