The Second Substance
Anne Lardeux
Squatters at a rural gas station try to find freedom and build something new on the ashes of our petrocivilization in this sensual novel.
A community of outsiders takes over an abandoned gas station. They spend their days ripping up asphalt, drinking beer and eating hot dogs, and wandering through woods and towns in search of new ways of living. People come and go: a charismatic landscaper, Italian anarchists, a policewoman, travellers. A teenager drifts into homelessness. And The Girl With No Name keeps a journal of her attempts to meet new people and sleep with them, sex that is “not a sideline” but the motivating force in a story she is struggling to understand.
Neighbors grow hostile. An investigation threatens the community. Tension builds between the surface violence of “normal life” and the attempt of these outsiders to experience freedom and build something new on the ashes of our oil-addicted society.
With a character borrowed from Agnès Varda’s Vagabond and inspiration taken from Anne Boyer’s writings, Anne Lardeux’s highly original debut assembles elements of poetry, film, and visual arts into an exuberant choral novel, an ode to the daughters of fire and to the poetry of the body. Often funny, sometimes raunchy, consistently surprising, never flinching, The Second Substance heralds an important new voice in Quebec literature.
Author - Anne Lardeux.
Narrator - Trinity Wilcox.
Published Date - Tuesday, 17 January 2023.
Location:
United States
Description:
Squatters at a rural gas station try to find freedom and build something new on the ashes of our petrocivilization in this sensual novel. A community of outsiders takes over an abandoned gas station. They spend their days ripping up asphalt, drinking beer and eating hot dogs, and wandering through woods and towns in search of new ways of living. People come and go: a charismatic landscaper, Italian anarchists, a policewoman, travellers. A teenager drifts into homelessness. And The Girl With No Name keeps a journal of her attempts to meet new people and sleep with them, sex that is “not a sideline” but the motivating force in a story she is struggling to understand. Neighbors grow hostile. An investigation threatens the community. Tension builds between the surface violence of “normal life” and the attempt of these outsiders to experience freedom and build something new on the ashes of our oil-addicted society. With a character borrowed from Agnès Varda’s Vagabond and inspiration taken from Anne Boyer’s writings, Anne Lardeux’s highly original debut assembles elements of poetry, film, and visual arts into an exuberant choral novel, an ode to the daughters of fire and to the poetry of the body. Often funny, sometimes raunchy, consistently surprising, never flinching, The Second Substance heralds an important new voice in Quebec literature. Author - Anne Lardeux. Narrator - Trinity Wilcox. Published Date - Tuesday, 17 January 2023.
Language:
English
Chapter 1
Duration:00:00:12
Chapter 2
Duration:00:00:08
Chapter 3
Duration:00:01:12
Chapter 4
Duration:00:01:36
Chapter 5
Duration:00:01:56
Chapter 6
Duration:00:04:49
Chapter 7
Duration:00:02:52
Chapter 8
Duration:00:00:08
Chapter 9
Duration:00:15:31
Chapter 10
Duration:00:01:26
Chapter 11
Duration:00:09:10
Chapter 12
Duration:00:02:54
Chapter 13
Duration:00:03:54
Chapter 14
Duration:00:01:40
Chapter 15
Duration:00:00:13
Chapter 16
Duration:00:03:58
Chapter 17
Duration:00:03:27
Chapter 18
Duration:00:09:51
Chapter 19
Duration:00:03:38
Chapter 20
Duration:00:00:13
Chapter 21
Duration:00:03:39
Chapter 22
Duration:00:02:24
Chapter 23
Duration:00:00:12
Chapter 24
Duration:00:02:05
Chapter 25
Duration:00:02:31
Chapter 26
Duration:00:02:51
Chapter 27
Duration:00:00:13
Chapter 28
Duration:00:01:40
Chapter 29
Duration:00:04:49
Chapter 30
Duration:00:02:33
Chapter 31
Duration:00:07:11
Chapter 32
Duration:00:08:56
Chapter 33
Duration:00:01:36
Chapter 34
Duration:00:05:02
Chapter 35
Duration:00:04:51
Chapter 36
Duration:00:08:04
Chapter 37
Duration:00:03:55
Chapter 38
Duration:00:02:06
Chapter 39
Duration:00:10:45
Chapter 40
Duration:00:00:16
Chapter 41
Duration:00:05:01
Chapter 42
Duration:00:00:07
Chapter 43
Duration:00:11:46
Chapter 44
Duration:00:07:33
Chapter 45
Duration:00:02:14
Chapter 46
Duration:00:00:21
Chapter 47
Duration:00:04:58
Chapter 48
Duration:00:04:18
Chapter 49
Duration:00:04:04
Chapter 50
Duration:00:05:16
Chapter 51
Duration:00:07:01
Chapter 52
Duration:00:01:47
Chapter 53
Duration:00:02:42
Chapter 54
Duration:00:02:33
Chapter 55
Duration:00:01:57
Chapter 56
Duration:00:01:47
Chapter 57
Duration:00:00:49
Chapter 58
Duration:00:07:28
Chapter 59
Duration:00:00:59
Chapter 60
Duration:00:03:47
Chapter 61
Duration:00:04:13
Chapter 62
Duration:00:03:28
Chapter 63
Duration:00:07:49
Chapter 64
Duration:00:03:23
Chapter 65
Duration:00:01:07
Chapter 66
Duration:00:00:36