A time-loop that slows you down.
On the Calculation of Volume (Book I)
An antiquarian bookseller becomes trapped in November 18, experiencing the same ordinary day over and over while everyone else forgets.
193g
Weighs the same as Banana + Lexan Spoon
- Lightweight
- Changes the Way You See
- Fiction
On November 18th, antiquarian bookseller Tara Selter wakes up to a day that will not end. Every midnight, the world resets; everyone forgets—except Tara. Returning to her home in northern France, she attempts to live alongside her husband, who greets her every morning as if for the first time. The first installment of a celebrated seven-volume cycle, Solvej Balle’s novella is no comedy of repetition, but a patient, haunting study of attention. A time-loop that slows you down.
Field notes
Balle conceived her time-loop novel in 1987, six years before Groundhog Day, but spent decades resisting the idea and allowing her protagonist to develop. When she finally watched the film, she found it had helpfully explored paths she didn't want to take. Her own ambitions lay closer to Ulysses, with its singleminded attention to a single ordinary day. The project eventually grew into seven planned volumes, published through her own small press on the Danish island of Ærø.