A man becomes entangled in a dangerous web of death and deceit in this “hallmark of classic French noir” set in 1960s Paris (The Guardian)
Trouble is the last thing Albert needs. Traveling back to his childhood home on Christmas Eve to mourn his mother’s death, he finds the loneliness and nostalgia of his Parisian quartier unbearable. Until, that evening, he encounters a beautiful, seemingly innocent woman at a brasserie, and his spirits are lifted.
Still, something about the woman disturbs him. Where is the father of her child? And what are those two red stains on her sleeve? When she invites him back to her apartment, Albert thinks he’s in luck. But a monstrous scene awaits them, and he finds himself lured into the darkness against his better judgment.
Unravelling like a paranoid nightmare, Bird in a Cage melds existentialist drama with thrilling noir to tell the story of a man trapped in a prison of his own making.
"A tense and yearning tale set in a Paris suburb during the 1960s. . . . In “Bird in a Cage” , nobody is quite as they seem to be . . . Dard is a consummate hoodwinker: As you read along, there are apparent incongruities of plot and characterization. But like the waiter who magically whips the tablecloth from beneath a heavily laden table without disturbing any cutlery, all things are left accounted for." -- The Wall Street Journal
"With their tight plots, the stories are particularly cinematic, and film-makers are already showing interest. Dard also wrote screenplays and plays. Their revival could be just around the corner." — The Observer
"Melancholy and atmospheric, with a twist worthy of Agatha Christie at her devious best, this brief tale has the hallmark of classic French noir" – The Guardian
“A snappy and inherently clever little thriller.” — Bookbag (one of Top Ten Crime Novels 2016)
"His language is cutting, his point-of-view original and his verdict uncompromising... One of the few twentieth-century authors to win both critical acclaim and great popularity" - Solidarité Militaire
"The literary descendant of Simenon and Celine"- Le Figaro
"France's most popular post-war author." - L'Express
"Hugely atmospheric." -- The Times
"Alongside the Maigret novels of Georges Simenon there is a rich vein of period French crime still to be tapped. Frédéric Dard is a case in point." -- Daily Mail
"Disturbing from the outset with strong echoes of Dard's hero Simenon." -- Sunday Times Crime Club
"This short, sly novel of the night has more than enough sibstance and mystery to keep readers awake and engrossed." -- The National
Frédéric Dard (1921-2000) was one of the best known and loved French crime writers of the twentieth century. Enormously prolific, he wrote more than three hundred thrillers, suspense stories, plays and screenplays, under a variety of noms de plume, throughout his long and illustrious career, which also saw him win the 1957 Grand prix de littérature policière for The Executioner Cries, available from Pushkin Vertigo in Fall 2016.
David Bellos is an English translator and biographer who currently teaches French and Comparative literature at Princeton University. His translations include several of Georges Simenon's Maigret novels, as well as Paul Fournel's Dear Reader, published by Pushkin Press. He has also written biographies of Perec, Jacques Tati and Romain Gary and an introduction to translation, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything.
A man becomes entangled in a dangerous web of death and deceit in this “hallmark of classic French noir” set in 1960s Paris (The Guardian)
Trouble is the last thing Albert needs. Traveling back to his childhood home on Christmas Eve to mourn his mother’s death, he finds the loneliness and nostalgia of his Parisian quartier unbearable. Until, that evening, he encounters a beautiful, seemingly innocent woman at a brasserie, and his spirits are lifted.
Still, something about the woman disturbs him. Where is the father of her child? And what are those two red stains on her sleeve? When she invites him back to her apartment, Albert thinks he’s in luck. But a monstrous scene awaits them, and he finds himself lured into the darkness against his better judgment.
Unravelling like a paranoid nightmare, Bird in a Cage melds existentialist drama with thrilling noir to tell the story of a man trapped in a prison of his own making.
Reviews
"A tense and yearning tale set in a Paris suburb during the 1960s. . . . In “Bird in a Cage” , nobody is quite as they seem to be . . . Dard is a consummate hoodwinker: As you read along, there are apparent incongruities of plot and characterization. But like the waiter who magically whips the tablecloth from beneath a heavily laden table without disturbing any cutlery, all things are left accounted for." -- The Wall Street Journal
"With their tight plots, the stories are particularly cinematic, and film-makers are already showing interest. Dard also wrote screenplays and plays. Their revival could be just around the corner." — The Observer
"Melancholy and atmospheric, with a twist worthy of Agatha Christie at her devious best, this brief tale has the hallmark of classic French noir" – The Guardian
“A snappy and inherently clever little thriller.” — Bookbag (one of Top Ten Crime Novels 2016)
"His language is cutting, his point-of-view original and his verdict uncompromising... One of the few twentieth-century authors to win both critical acclaim and great popularity" - Solidarité Militaire
"The literary descendant of Simenon and Celine"- Le Figaro
"France's most popular post-war author." - L'Express
"Hugely atmospheric." -- The Times
"Alongside the Maigret novels of Georges Simenon there is a rich vein of period French crime still to be tapped. Frédéric Dard is a case in point." -- Daily Mail
"Disturbing from the outset with strong echoes of Dard's hero Simenon." -- Sunday Times Crime Club
"This short, sly novel of the night has more than enough sibstance and mystery to keep readers awake and engrossed." -- The National
Author
Frédéric Dard (1921-2000) was one of the best known and loved French crime writers of the twentieth century. Enormously prolific, he wrote more than three hundred thrillers, suspense stories, plays and screenplays, under a variety of noms de plume, throughout his long and illustrious career, which also saw him win the 1957 Grand prix de littérature policière for The Executioner Cries, available from Pushkin Vertigo in Fall 2016.
David Bellos is an English translator and biographer who currently teaches French and Comparative literature at Princeton University. His translations include several of Georges Simenon's Maigret novels, as well as Paul Fournel's Dear Reader, published by Pushkin Press. He has also written biographies of Perec, Jacques Tati and Romain Gary and an introduction to translation, Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything.
