In Rue Fabre: Centre of the Universe Jean-Claude Germain evokes a Quebec unknown to most English-speaking Canadians. In the 1940s, for a young boy of Rue Fabre in Montreal's East End, leaving the city constituted a veritable odyssey as he accompanied his father--a salesman of candy and cigarettes--on his rounds to the towns and cities surrounding Montreal. Travelling in his father's truck surrounded by Cherry Blossom chocolates, Lifesavers, maple sugar cones, sugary strawberries, jelly beans and black balls, he discovers a strange and fascinating world, extraordinary individuals, and incredible situations.