ABSTRACT
Bion was taken for a lunatic. The three parts of A Memoir of the Future were written in the United States, where he took refuge in 1968 in Los Angeles, to escape “the cosy domesticity of England.” The three books are entitled The Dream (1975), The Past Presented (1977) and The Dawn of Oblivion, published in 1979, the year of Bion’s death. This book of dialogues, with its typographical inventions, was inspired by Tristram Shandy, 1 which, in turn, was inspired by Don Quixote. The character of Captain Bion brings to mind Tristram’s uncle Captain Toby Shandy, who is endlessly telling his war stories, after he fought in Marlborough’s army against Louis XIV.
