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Jacques Roubaud. La derniere balls perdue. Paris. Fayard. 1997. 133 pages. 39 F. ISBN 2-213-59890-8.
Since 1967 Jacques Roubaud has published more than twenty volumes, including poetry, essays (on mathematics, for example), and novels. In the novel La derniere bnl*rF balle perdue the hero Laurent simplemindedly devotes his entire life to fulfilling a promise. Since he was born on the day Hitler came to power in 1933, the background against which his life is played out is ominous. His father John is a wine merchant while his best friend NO (for Norbert) is the son of a chocolate dealer. Their first game was making and sailing paper boats. Then they played with marbles, the beginning of Laurent's preoccupation with...