Familiar Face

In Familiar Face, Michael DeForge's genius brain foreshadows a not-so-distant future where optimization is the ruling dictator. Underneath DeForge's hyper-coloured, fragmented style and signature deadpan Is a prescient mourning for what is lost after the onslaught of updates and upgrades. One of the most compelling works to date by my favourite Canadian writer.--Vivek Shraya, author of Death Threat and I'm Afraid of Men

At first glance, Familiar Face may seem to be set in a far-off dystopia, but the longer you remain in this strange world, the more it begins to feel uncannily familiar, an almost-too-accurate depiction of our world. Yet, for all its disquiet, this was a pleasure to read. Michael DeForge's elastic, friendly line is full of humour and wistful charm.--Ling Ma, author of Severance

Familiar Face imagines a society in which the acceleration of capitalism has reached a feverish peak. In the name of optimization, the world is constantly reshaping itself. Citizens wake each morning in unfamiliar bodies, their features wholly transformed; the map shuffles weekly, sometimes even daily, resulting in inescapable culs-de-sac and sudden dead ends. --The Paris Review

In this future [the] consumer complaint has become everyone's favourite mode of self-expression. Mourning the loss of her lover, DeForge's protagonist reads signs, explanations and epiphanies into everything... Come for the consumer satire; stay for the heartache. --The London Times

If you feel like the ground has shifted under your feet, of late--that the terrain you face is utterly unrecognizable--have I got the book for you. --The Globe & Mail