The World on the Side of a Trout is a meteorological journal of the mind, a meditation on the art of seeing, reading and writing by one of Quebec’s finest novelists.

Robert Lalonde tells us he writes to stop knowing, to start seeing and feeling, to chase away the night’s bad mysteries, to change morning into spring…

“The world seen in water, or on the side of a trout. From the corner of my eye, I see it, and words quietly appear, one by one, going into the great lake of sky that fills my head. And I love, madly, absolutely relentlessly, incomprehensibly, insanely, to struggle before the right moment, lose bets and wither on the stalk, still stupid, writing rough sentences, waiting, straining, hoping—‘break your heart, your back, your brain’… I then give up and go for a walk; I come back, dejected , when, looking in the water, I realize the scene had been stirring there all this time: new, sparkling, fully fleshed-out: the world on the side of a trout.”

From April to April, through the days and months of a year, the author paints a nature inexhaustible in its beauty and complexity, while musing on the writers and books that nourish his soul…. Michel de Montaigne, Flannery O’Connor, Gabrielle Roy, and so many others…

“Passionate, rich and torrential prose, a lavish book you dive into like a river.”
Pierre Cayouette, Le Devoir.

“A marvellous book that bubbles with the mystery of life and celebrates the power and magic of water, whether it’s sleepy, turbulent or just stormy.”
Jean-Paul Dubois, Le Nouvel Observateur

“A book of daydreams and meditations that serves up passion in its purest form.”
Gilles Marcotte, l’Actualité

“The World on the Side of a Trout is a showcase for Robert Lalonde’s talent as a writer of the very first order.” Réginald Martel, La Presse

An actor, playwright and translator, Robert Lalonde is one of Quebec’s leading writers. His previous novels published in translation by Ekstasis Editions include The Ogre of Grand Remous, One Beautiful Day to Come, The Last Indian Summer, Seven Lakes Further North and Little Eagle with a White Head.