Baloney Format: Paperback

"Bock's language crackles with the energy of a Québécois folk song, impassioned and celebratory but also melancholy and cheekily ironic." —The New Yorker, on Atavisms

A young, floundering author meets Robert "Baloney" Lacerte, an older, marginal poet who seems to own nothing beyond his unwavering certainty. Over the course of one summer evening, Lacerte recounts his unrelenting quest for poetry, which has taken him from Quebec's Boreal forests to South America to East Montreal, where he seems poised to disappear without a trace. But as the blocked writer discovers, Lacerte might just be full of it.

Maxime Raymond Bock lives in Montreal, Quebec. Atavisms, his first book, won the Prix Adrienne-Choquette.

Pablo Strauss, who translated Atavisms, lives in Quebec City, Quebec.

Maxime Raymond Bock: Maxime Raymond Bock was born in Montréal, Quebec. Atavisms, his first book, won the 2012 Prix Adrienne-Choquette; its English translation was published by Dalkey Archive. He has published two novellas, Rosemont de profil (2013) and Des lames de pierre (2015).
Pablo Strauss: Pablo Strauss grew up in Victoria, British Columbia and now lives in Quebec City. His translations of Quebec authors have appeared online and in print. He translated Raymond Bock's first book, Atavisms.