Dropouts, a murderer on the run, drifters, conspirators, rejects of society, contrarians – these are the unlikely heros of this collection of short stories which explore a Quebec in search of itself. Between fantasy and daily desperation, the stories in The Parallel Tribunal depict anti-heroes who share the same thirst for the absolute in a society bled dry by conformity and social pressure. They are all drawn to a different horizon, a different ethic.

André Lamontagne was born in Québec City and now lives in Vancouver where he is Professor of French and head of the French, Hispanic and Italian Studies Department at the University of British Columbia. As a scholar and creative writer, he is the author of two essays on Quebecois Literature, Les mots des autres (1992) and Le roman québécois contemporain: les voix sous les mots (2004) and of Le tribunal parallèle, a collection of short stories, nominated for the Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada 2007 and for the 2008 Prix Emile-Ollivier du Conseil supérieur de la langue française. The Gravediggers, his first novel, originally published in French as Les fossoyeurs, was nominated for the 2010 Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada. André Lamontagne is vice-president of the Francophone Historical Society of British Columbia.

It was easy to find the building because of the onlookers lingering in front of the flowers that were piling up. I stayed there with a few of them, looking up at the third floor, as if seeking a sign. Of course, the glazier had already been, so it was difficult to know which were Deleuze’s windows. Just as I was preparing to leave, I caught sight of tiny splinters of glass gleaming on the sidewalk. It was hard to see them with the naked eye; you had to be walking with your head bowed to see them. I was fascinated by how they glittered, as if the silica crystals had a life of their own.