In the large hall hosting the Montreal Book Fair, Dany Laferrière sits at a wooden table in the middle of one of the booths. He is wearing a yellow shirt, a sleeveless green sweater, khaki pants, and red Converse sneakers—shoes that recall the cover of his book Un certain art de vivre (A Certain Art of Living).

On his table rests a fruit basket, a mug, a glass of water, a small yellow plastic duck, and pencils in different colors. These pencils are used freely by the author to add originality to the copies brought by his readers. Highly focused and full of enthusiasm, he signs and draws freehand flowers on each book placed before him.