Autumn Rounds

A miniature masterpiece about the joys of books, cats, travel, and jazz.


A man living alone in Quebec City hears a brassy tune ("La java bleue") waft through his apartment window. He follows its chirping out to the street, and there he meets a rollicking troupe of acrobats, jugglers, and musicians-among them a charming Katherine Hepburn-lookalike, Marie. He is enamored by the ensemble's joyful irreverence and they are drawn to his rare devotion to books, cats, and the iris-mottled countryside of Quebec. They set off together. In his bookmobile, he guides the troupe up the craggy coast of the St. Lawrence River. A "fine figure with its curves," outfitted with a kitchen, expandable shelves, and-just above the sink-a golden-hued photograph of Shakespeare & Company, the bookmobile wends its way north. Along the way, its driver falls in love and lends book upon book to the devoted readers of the towns he visits every summer. Autumn Rounds is a tender travelogue punctuated by picnics, sandy coves, and the voices of Billie Holiday, Gabrielle Roy, and Anne Hébert. It's about the way books speak through us, chiming in, alive with simple abandon.