The Baldwins

In the post-apocalyptic future, 50 years after the last government of turbo-liberals and its president-for-life have been elected, a group of researchers convenes a Congress to address the curious cultural phenomenon of the Baldwins, whose stories have been gathered and archived by the chroniclers. This novel of fragments represents contemporary prose at its most daring and experimental.

Following in the footsteps of writers such as Borges, Calvino, and Lem, Serge Lamothe, in The Baldwins, concocts a near-future metafiction exploring history and human nature. Via translators Fred A. Reed and David Homel, this novella, originally written in French, now reaches English readers. In the future, academics study the lore of the Baldwins — are they real, imaginary, a species, a family, or a mistranslation? Nobody knows. THE MONTREAL GAZETTE, Claude Lalumière.

Excerpt