Of Jesuits and Bohemians

Jean-Claude Germain
Translated by Donald Winkler


Jean-Claude Germain’s second volume of Montreal memoirs chronicles his coming of age: his draconian Jesuit education on the fringes of the city’s Red Light District, followed by his liberating discovery of the city’s fevered bohemian community in the dying days of the Duplessis regime and Quebec’s “grande noirceur.” Here, on the cusp between two worlds, we meet fire-breathing clerics intent on putting the fear of God into young souls, and writers, painters, theatre directors and performers, determined at all costs, and at great sacrifice, to transform the society in which they live. It is this creative ferment that instils in the young Jean-Claude a passion for and a belief in artistic endeavour that will sustain him through all the years that lie in wait.

Véhicule Press
Biography & Autobiography 2014

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Reviews

“Germain writes with the flair of the raconteur, the boulevardier. This slim, anecdotal, richly detailed, joyfully irreverent volume creates a vivid pastiche.” –Gisèle M. Baxter, Canadian LIterature

Writer, playwright, director, actor, journalist, historian, and critic, Jean-Claude Germain is a Quebec icon. He taught at the National Theatre School of Canada and was artistic director of Théâtre d'aujourd'hui (1972-1982). He was a founding member of VLB Editeur. Well-known for his story telling on the radio, he related the year by year saga of the history of Montreal from 1642 to 1992 at the morning show CBF-Bonjour, the 350 episodes were ultimately published in three volumes as Le Feuilleton de Montréal. He is the author of Rue Fabre ( Vehicule Press, 2012).

Other books by Jean-Claude Germain: Rue Fabre: Centre of the Universe
Germain
Trade paperback
160 pp 8.5" x 5.5"
ISBN13: 9781550653762

CDN $18.00
US & International
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Ebook
8.5" x 5.5"
ISBN13: 9781550654202

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