Sleep no more

An insomniac novelist examines the causes, consequences and chaos of sleeplessness.

- STEPHANIE JOHNSON

SLEEPLESS, by Marie Darrieussecq, translated by Penny Hueston (Text, $40) Early in Sleepless, the French writer Marie Darrieussecq states: "The world is divided into those who can sleep and those who can't." She falls into the latter category, particularly since the birth of a child 20 years ago. The book began as columns for a weekly magazine in 2017, which Darrieussecq kept up for two years before beginning to write again on the subject in long form. It retains a chatty, intimate tone and bristles with prodigious research, some of which is incidental but always lively. Insomnia has consumed her intellectually and creatively, as well as wreaking occasional havoc on her domestic and family life.