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