Miguel talks us through where he wrote Ilustrado and shows us his Star Trek chair.
This is my view from my writing desk. It's of the corner of Rue Jeanne-Mance and Rue Fairmount. This is the street on which Mordecai Richler grew up. In the distance, you can see Montreal's Olympic Stadium. I see many interesting things from my window - hipsters dressing up in clothes I wore when I was a lad, beautiful women, a lone cat crossing at night, irate hockey fans throwing rubbish bins onto the street, and, one late evening, four Hassidic men linking arms and dancing a jig in a circle in the middle of the intersection, like crows hearing music for the first time.
This second photo is of my actual writing desk. I have a chair that looks like something out of Star Trek, because it's ergonomic and my back is already chronically screwy from all the years of hours writing at the computer. I live in a big loft, and have cornered myself into necessary seclusion with bookcases and plants.
This third photo is the dining table where I often work, for a change. It was here where I did my system of bricolage with Velcro and fragments. It is also here where I read the newspaper, or the New Yorker, or take notes. I do my best reading and writing in very domestic settings - my corner desk by a big window, my dining table, the kitchen counter, or in bed.