Do You Remember Being Born?: A Novel

Written by Sean Michaels

Narrated by Lisa Bunting and Alex Paxton-Beesley

Marian Ffarmer is a world-renowned poet and a legend in the making-but only now, at seventy-five years old, is she beginning to believe in the security of her successes. Unfortunately, a poet's accomplishments don't necessarily translate to capital, and as her adult son struggles to buy his first home, her confidence in her choices begins to fray. Marian's pristine life of mind-for which she's sacrificed nearly all personal relationships, from romance to friendship to motherhood-has come at a cost.

Then comes a cryptic invitation from the Tech Company. Come to California, the invitation beckons, and write with a machine. The Company's lucrative offer-for Marian to coauthor a poem in a 'historic partnership' with their cutting-edge poetry bot, named Charlotte-chafes at everything she believes about artmaking as an individual pursuit . . . yet, it's a second chance she can't resist. And so to California she goes, a sell-out and a skeptic, for an encounter that will unsettle her life, her work, and even her understanding of kinship.

Both a love letter to and interrogation of the nature of language, art, labor, capital, family, and community, Do You Remember Being Born? is Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Sean Michaels's empathetic response to some of the most disquieting questions of our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Sep 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781696613323

Sean Michaels

Montreal's Sean Michaels is a writer, critic and founder of the pioneering music blog 'Said the Gramophone'. Born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1982, he has toured with rock bands, scoured the Paris catacombs and contributed to publications including the Guardian, McSweeney's, Pitchfork and Plan B. Us Conductors was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award 2016. @stgramophone usconductors.byseanmichaels.com

Reviews for Do You Remember Being Born?

[lisa.m.schermann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

delightful! it made me want to read more poetry. I also think the narrator of this audio book is incredible.