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Incident Report
Incident Report | Martha Baillie
2 posts | 4 read | 8 to read
: In a Toronto library, home to the mad and the marginalized, notes appear, written by someone who believes he is Rigoletto, the hunchbacked jester from Verdi's opera. Convinced that the young librarian, Miriam, is his daughter, he promises to protect her from grief. Little does he know how much loss she has already experienced; or does he? The Incident Report, both mystery and love story, daringly explores the fragility of our individual identities. Strikingly original in its structure, comprised of 140 highly distilled, lyric "reports," the novel depicts the tensions between private and public storytelling, the subtle dynamics of a socially exposed workplace. The Incident Report is a novel of "gestures," one that invites the reader to be astonished by the circumstances its characters confront. Reports on bizarre public behaviour intertwine with reports on the private life of the novel's narrator. Shifting constantly between harmony and dissonance, elegant in its restraint and excitingly contemporary, The Incident Report takes the pulse of our fragmented urban existence with detachment and wit, while a quiet tragedy unfolds. Previous books, with dates and publishers: - The Shape I Gave You - Knopf 2006- Madame Balashovskaya's Apartment - Turnstone Press 1999Translations of Madame Balashovskaya's Apartment: An einem Regentag in Paris - Ebersbach 2001 (Germany)Madame B. titka - Kossuth 2003 (Hungary)- My Sister Esther - Turnstone Press 1995
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HardcoverHarlot
Incident Report | Martha Baillie
Panpan

I hate to give this a pan, especially with such a cool premise, but I just don't get it. It was far too short and jumpy. The incident reports read like diary entries when I think they could have been formatted like actual reports and really used the gimmick to its advantage. Also...super sad for seemingly no reason?

Lindy Too bad this wasn't for you. I read it about 5 years ago and loved it. I remember it being perplexing, and also amusing, and I was totally charmed. 8y
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blurb
HardcoverHarlot
Incident Report | Martha Baillie
post image

What a strange little book I'm reading. It's a novel told through incident reports that a Canadian public librarian fills out. Only halfway through so far.

MyNamesParadise Whoa!! I always read the incident reports that my library system puts on its staff intranet and dang the things people do! 8y
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