Whös really telling this story? That s the mystery at the heart of Danielle Mémoire s novel, which opens with a writer on stage at a public reading a public reading that isn t one, because she never reads a word, much to the audience s annoyance. When an audience member finally heckles her, the writer s response sets off a chain reaction of nested stories that tumble one after another like a row of dominoes.
Each storyteller in the series (most are writers at public readings) builds on what s come before while often radically changing its meaning. Along the way, we encounter fatal stepladders, a painter obsessed with a transom window, a lovestruck dog-walker, and a lost cat restored to its owners through divine intervention. Playful, thought-provoking, and utterly unique, Public Reading Followed by Discussion defies classification and invites every reader to join the game.
