Bricomonge is a hardware shop run by my father, located rue Monge, in Paris. I know little about my dad, only that he got involved in the Maoist movement during May 68, at a very young age, while studying economy. Bricomonge will close by the end of 2014. Before everything my childhood imagination thrived on disappears, I want to know: how come a man such as my father, rather smart and well-read, decided to open a hardware store at forty?