Praise for The Singing Forest

"The Singing Forest blends thought-provoking reflections on the moral reckoning of war crimes with a warm, wry, almost Anne Tyler-esque depiction of a young woman’s attempts to decode her eccentric professional and personal families ... Leah's losses, her questions about her parents, are subtly contrasted with larger questions about truth and responsibility, especially when she flies off to conduct interviews in Minsk, 'where facts had been malleable for so long, where they had become saleable commodities.'"—Alida Becker, New York Times

"Moving hypnotically between present events and two motherless childhoods—Jarvis’s eccentric upbringing and the loveless brutality of Drozd’s—McCormack pulls off a little miracle. For much of the novel, we care about the monster. All this she accomplishes in sentences that wrap themselves around you."—The Walrus

"A brilliant stroke ... McCormack’s scope is impressive. The Singing Forest is a crime drama, a historical novel, and a character-driven work ... This novel posits that time does not heal all wounds. Recognition, reparation, and remembrance are urgent."—Quill & Quire

“Judith McCormack's The Singing Forest is probably the best Canadian novel, released this year, that you will read.”—John Delacourt, author of Butterfly

“By its searing and ambiguous finale, this startlingly humane novel has made an indelible impression.”—Michelle Schingler, Foreword (starred review)

"McCormack revives the secret, hovering between what’s buried and what’s above ground, what sings into a surreal blend. The forest whispers to silence the screams. The children are curious, the reader is curious, and McCormack cares ... A page-turner with substance, where troubled family trees testify, find new growth, and branch out."—Miramichi Reader

"The novel’s twin storylines are beautifully written, and reach a profound and unsettling moral clarity."—Maclean's

“There is nothing bleak or drained of life in The Singing Forest, despite such harrowing scenes. The energy of the prose does not falter, transcending the expectations—if not the limitations—of a crime drama ... the scope of McCormack’s ambition is nothing less than a poetic meditation on the mutability of identity, and with The Singing Forest, she succeeds.”—Ottawa Review of Books

"The Kurapaty mass grave near Minsk, Belarus, was used to hide the bodies of thousands murdered by Stalin’s secret police from 1937 to 1941 ... searingly, as McCormack writes, there are the voices of the dead who cry out, 'We are here. We are waiting.' Know this history through your heart, through the empathetic imagination of McCormack’s fiction."—Kim Echlin, author of The Disappeared

"In this hypnotically layered novel, a young Jewish lawyer, Leah Jarvis, is assigned the case of Stefan Drozd, a nonagenarian war criminal facing deportation for acts he committed as a minor in Belarus. McCormack treats her characters with unnerving fairness, balancing terror with beauty, a brutal childhood with an odd and loving one, and somehow squeezing out of the reader sympathy for Drozd—until horror precludes it. Deeply intelligent and deeply moral, The Singing Forest shows that, like glass, truth is amorphous. It also makes the case that, though 'there is no general duty to rescue' in law, a family might save a child, as it did Leah. Or it may, like Drozd, make a monster of him."—Caroline Adderson, author of A History of Forgetting and A Russian Sister

“Sometimes, as a reader, you put down a book in wonder, because you have been inside the mind of a deep and seeing writer, whose vision of the world is captivating, original and illuminating. Such a writer is Judith McCormack. In vibrant and nuanced language McCormack spirals us into the heart of a war criminal, and the brilliant lawyer who unravels the workings of his mind. Dark, disturbing, dazzling—this is an unflinching look at evil—and yet, and here is McCormack’s genius, we emerge more whole. The Singing Forest is an absolute triumph!”—Shaena Lambert, author of Petra and Oh, My Darling/

Praise for Judith McCormack

“McCormack emerges as a skilled storyteller unlike any I’ve encountered. The weightiness of themes—good luck and bad, happiness and misery, chance and choice and responsibility—is filtered pleasingly through the wry voice of a character in one story; another unfolds effortlessly, redolent with atmosphere and a detailed evoking of a period setting and manners. Seemingly random plotting gathers itself to a gentle burst of catharsis that beautifully integrates the whole … [McCormack] is a rare bird.”—Jim Bartley, Globe and Mail

“Judith McCormack writes with the fluidity and confidence of a natural, and her stories are a joy to read.”—Nino Ricci, author of The Origin of the Species

“[McCormack’s] language is sharply honed without being studied or precious.”—Phillip Marchand, Toronto Star

“Though it starts with a fire, the appeal of [Backspring] is its style of depicting aftermath, which is understated despite high emotional tension. It’s akin to the scent of smoke that bothers Eduardo during anxious moments in the months following the blast. A novel of precariousness—in love and life—set in a Montreal mosaic of French, English and les autres.”—Jade Colbert, Globe and Mail

“A well-written and smart novel that unfolds many moments of profound and subtle beauty. McCormack’s treatment of details and prose are refreshing, confident, and attentive.”—Burgess McGregor, Winnipeg Review

Praise for Dante's Indiana

"[Dante's Indiana] mixes the outrageous social satire of George Saunders or Salman Rushdie with Prin’s more solemn and inward religious searching. The unique result juxtaposes the ridiculous and the sublime—fitting as both an homage to Dante and a portrayal of America."—Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

“Boyagoda keeps things moving quickly and imaginatively. He skewers hosts of sinners along the way, but the wit has a winsome empathy behind it. A rollicking, inventive, mostly successful satire—with a vein of seriousness and sadness underneath.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Boyagoda set himself a challenge, and it’s one that he’s up to ... Boyagoda makes it seem easy with a series of apt similes ... This is the sort of imaginative verbal panache that in our own vernacular pays tribute to Dante as literary guide ... The classics, however, are always reimagined in ways that respond to the personal anxieties and public crises of our own time. In the shattered funhouse of the twenty-first century we may be expected to redefine the content of a faith that sustains.”—Toronto Star

“Witty and wrenching.”—Globe & Mail

"Boyagoda’s novel might be one of the best ways to “remember Dante forward”—to remember him in the present tense. By channeling Dante in a satirical vein, Boyagoda helps us see the impulses shaping the American and global economic order as spiritual forces—and the decisions made by individuals, communities, and even nations as products of disordered desire."—Image Journal

"Dante’s Indiana succeeds as a funny, unpredictable and occasionally moving tale."—Winnipeg Free Press

"An entertaining and theologically deft take on the consequences of the choices we all make as we seek the Good ... Dante's Indiana is a superb literary achievement."—Kevin Duffy, Eurasia Review

"The antics of Boyagoda’s characters are as tragicomically uproarious as they are startling—and yet, as presented, also entirely believable. The plot delightfully follows Aristotle’s advice to prefer the plausible impossibility to the implausible possibility. What ensues is a genuine levity that lifts the reader over substantive plot points that, less sensitively handled, could raise a multitude of defenses. By lighthearted treatment of the truly ridiculous, Boyagoda earns the right to look with authentic compassion on characters’ serious sorrows."—Fare Forward

"Boyagoda shows how the political is always personal and the personal is always spiritual. The last ninety pages of the novel move at break-neck speed ... The effect is a bit dizzying, but maybe that’s the point—in an age where the internet connects us across oceans and time zones, no one exists in isolation and every occurrence is connected."—ZYZZYVA

"Randy Boyagoda takes a bold dive into some of society’s most contentious issues in his latest novel, Dante’s Indiana ... The theme of being lost and also being found is at the crux of Prin’s experience and that of the other characters. That profound idea found in Catholic liturgy and in Scripture is central to the religious tradition at play in this book."—Catholic Register

"In his most recent and best novel to date, Randy Boyagoda rides a rollercoaster that could easily derail into infernal entertainment ... With its admixture of playfulness and gravitas, Dante’s Indiana is an unlikely footnote to David Foster Wallace’s peerless novel Infinite Jest, which wows readers with an extended analogy between addiction and entertainment ... Passing through Prin’s purgatorial rollercoaster, seeing the sights beyond the theme park lights, the reader is sharpened by shocks of recognition, the sort that Dante’s commedia gives us."—Law & Liberty

“Dante’s Indiana is, like the first book, about Prin’s adventures in a world that is crazy and chaotic for a man of faith. And it is, also like the first, real, yet surreal. Hugely funny, yet poignant … Many of us will find our stories reflected in Boyagoda’s work, we’ll meet people we know.”—Desi News

“Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana is many things—knee-slapping satire, social commentary, spiritual pilgrimage. But above all, it is an attempt to bring contrapasso to bear on contemporary American life, both implicitly and explicitly ... As in his first novel, Boyagoda mixes the sacred and profane to great effect ... By locating the sacred within the profane, Dante’s Indiana offers a counternarrative to that of the culture wars ... Boyagoda’s novel is hilarious and deeply touching.”—Plough Quarterly

“Full of memorable characters and as fast-paced as the roller coaster that will be the main ride of hell, the novel reads like a movie script ... Even when the plot descends into dark topics, Boyagoda’s eye for wit keeps the novel lighthearted ... Sometimes absurd, sometimes witty, the humor of Dante’s Indiana is always thoughtful, never hurtful, and often satirical ... As Prin makes his path through the twists and turns of this novel, he never gives up hope that heaven awaits on the other side of purgatory.”—North Texas Catholic

"A Divine Comedy of our times—a morality play of an Everyman. An ordinary English professor, struggling to hold his marriage together, finds himself working for holy rollers and scheming businessmen. Hysterically funny, but with an underlying sadness—such Heaven and Hell already coexist in America, and in this novel."—John Irving, author of The World According to Garp

“The astonishing Boyagoda at his astounding best … Dante’s Indiana is a satirical stunner, a mad Midwestern tour de force and one of the most moving, most incisive maps of our grim contrapasso present you’ll ever read, a novel that is both humblingly humane and soaringly divine. Dante’s Indiana is what would happen if Saunders’ CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Moby Dick had a prophetic prodigal child. This book is a miracle.”—Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Dante’s Indiana is proof that a book can be both entertaining and literary—just like a theme park of Dante’s Inferno. Randy Boyagoda peoples his novels with lovable characters. They’re smart but not wise. Hurting but hopeful. Principled but exploited. The novel is political, satirical, allegorical … and almost a straight-up mirror of our times. This is a book we could all use right now.”—Ian Williams, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of Reproduction

"Randy Boyagoda's writing fills me with laughter, delight—and envy. With ambition and an unerring eye for detail, Dante's Indiana conjures a world that is savage, satirical, and unexpectedly tender."—Aravind Adiga, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The White Tiger

Praise for Original Prin

“Original Prin is many things at once: a richly funny campus novel, a painfully humorous portrait of a modern family, an examination of a whole spectrum of religious faith from shaky to fanatical, and finally, in a climax of pitch-black comedy, a thriller too. Boyagoda writes with real panache and drive. An unputdownable book.”
—Salman Rushdie

“An original animal...Clever, often ingenious...[raising] fascinating questions about fanaticism and the state of the modern world. Prin evolves in surprising ways, and tensions spike. For readers feeling confounded at the end, fear not. It’s the first in a planned trilogy.”
—The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“University corruption, infidelity, Catholic theology, Middle Eastern politics: not many writers could convincingly keep so many balls in the air, and that Boyagoda does so in a truly funny novel is impressive enough. But perhaps even more striking is the depth of sensitivity and understanding that Boyagoda brings to the emotive issues of faith, immigration, and violence. By examining the messy intersections between religious fundamentalism, global capitalism, and liberal values through the gentle comic form of the campus novel, Boyagoda does more than offer clever satire—he humanizes these vast impersonal forces even as he imbues them with a moral complexity that frustrates easy political judgment.”
—The Walrus

“That Boyagoda can take on faith, global capitalism, religious terrorism, upper-middle-class preciousness and self-delusion—all the while implicating Canada in traditionally “American” problems—attests to his talent. It also manages to be a taut and funny novel throughout...This is the first volume of a planned trilogy. If I could hazard my own divination of signs, I would bet Boyagoda could take [Prin] anywhere.”
—America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture

“One of the best satirical writers today...immediately funny.”
—Micah Mattix, The American Conservative

“Boyagoda sets up a tightly paced novel in Original Prin that succeeds on a number of fronts. It’s a hilarious romp of a campus novel, poking fun at the market-driven ethos of the modern Canadian academy. It’s a touching look at the complicated sacrifices demanded of familial love. At heart, it’s a richly humorous novel that explores the struggle for spiritual believers in a fiercely secular world...capturing the rambunctious multi-faith, multicultural zeitgeist of the city, particularly in corners where cultures and faith overlap...Boyagoda has crafted a novel that’s fresh and utterly original.”
—Toronto Star

“Timely...supremely funny...Original Prin deals with much that is purely human, centering on Prin's desire to do the right thing and the very relateable hang-ups and weaknesses that constantly thwart him. Boyagoda's novels are a reminder of what Catholic literature should be like.”
—The Catholic Register

“A winning combination of academic satire and sociopolitical commentary that leaves readers facing grim reality and acknowledging the irrationality of it all. Globally aware and witty, this is the opening title in a projected trilogy and a tale that offers a fascinating new perspective on journeys of faith and contemporary intellectual pursuits.”
—Booklist

“[Original Prin] skewers the corporatized university and modern world politics alike in this delicious satire...A lively complement to Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim, Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man, Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys, and other academic sendups.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Original Prin is a riotously funny satire, written more in the style of John Kennedy Toole and David Foster Wallace than [Flannery] O'Connor or [Graham Greene]...Boyagoda's clear, tight, prose propels the lot, and the book feels even shorter than its 223 pages. the whirling dervish of a story is dizzying at times, but is ultimately grounded buy the protagonist, whose sincerity and self-doubt allow him to function as a spiritual everyman for an internet-addled, post truth age.”
—The American Interest

“The funniest parts are long set pieces in which people reveal themselves to be who they are, and who they are is regrettable. Boyagoda satirizes academics, Catholics, Catholicism, Islamic terrorism, family life, male insecurities, and a raft of other subjects. Prin, the child of Sri Lankan parents, feels his life isn't what it should be, but the real problem is that he knows he's not what he should be.”
—Commonweal

“The novel surpasses self-satisfied wit and leaves us instead wincing under the weight of the cosmic spirit's humbling capaciousness. With its cosmic skewering of conscientious Catholicity and fanatical Islam, Original Prin might seem bent on ushering in a hyper-tolerance; but Boyagoda's novel does not laugh at what each of us holds most sacred so much as he laughs and hen weeps at the self-delusions of believers.”
—The University Bookman

“Original Prin is one of those books that defy classification. It's very real, yet surreal. It's funny - actually laugh-out-loud so - but sad."
—Desi News

“A very entertaining read...Prin's antics are alarming and funny, but the story's themes of faith and self-deception resonate long after the last sentence.”
—CBC Books

“Original Prin finds Boyagoda working explicitly in the tradition of comic Catholic writers such as Evelyn Waugh...It is fabulously rare, in our secular age, to find a novel that focuses so insistently and unironically on a character whose religion is not an ancillary aspect of his persona but absolutely central.”
—Quill & Quire

“Boyagoda gets it right.”
—Hamilton Review of Books

Praise for Randy Boyagoda

“Gleaming...Through his protagonist’s long and eventful life, Randy Boyagoda explores themes of shifting identity, of the diamond-hard determination to evade one’s destiny and of the inner landscapes of an island that itself undergoes a dramatic transformation ... an ambitious book that seeks to convey the sweep of history through the prism of one island. The lush style of Boyagoda’s prose suits the novel.”
—The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“The Evelyn Waugh of the North.”
—Books-in-Canada

“Governor of the Northern Province’s humour and liveliness are in welcome contrast to the dreary earnestness of so many similar books.”
—Quill & Quire

“Boyagoda, a sharp and subtle writer, slips easily into many different characters’ heads and their internal rhythms, and lyrical lines abound…A satirical feast.”
—The Globe and Mail

“A multifaceted, engrossing story… Prepare for a verbal feast that will thoroughly entertain and satisfy, yet leave you hungering for more.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Praise for As You Were

"The novel reads almost like a humorous screen adaptation of an illness memoir, its gaze trained more on the lived experience inside a hospital than on looming death."—New York Times

“A mighty, turbulent firestorm of a book, with a pulsing, rhythmic narrative voice. A compelling cast of characters with pitch perfect dialogue, it is tender, nuanced, forensically controlled and thrillingly unrestrained.”—Jury Statement from the 2021 Dalkey Emerging Writer Award

"Feeney’s brilliant debut follows an Irish woman’s struggle to accept a terminal cancer diagnosis ... Feeney skillfully tells the stories of other patients, including Margaret Rose, recovering from a stroke, and Jane, suffering from dementia. In the closed space of the ward, these three women share their secrets ... Never sentimental, and full of well-crafted dialogue and rich descriptions, the story is driven forward by Sinéad’s strong narration. This powerful work perfectly balances tragedy and hope."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In a novel that paints a picture of modern Ireland that isn’t by Sally Rooney, women in an oncology ward come to terms with secrets, illnesses, and how to deal with their families through text and emoji-speak and existential humor. Perfect for Sad Girl Fall.”—Nylon

"Funny, visceral, so well observed … I was blown away."—Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain

"I read this in one gulp! FunnySadCuttingBadHistoryElatingLyrical (new word). #Ireland #hospitals um what else?"—Margaret Atwood on Twitter

"An arresting debut."—Kirkus Reviews

"As You Were is an absolute tour de force: raw, sharp and wild. Elaine Feeney writes with such love for and understanding of her characters. It’s the literary equivalent of a stiff drink beside a warm fire: a book that will rattle you before it settles you."—Lisa McInerney

"As You Were was just (effing) amazing. Brimful of brilliant characterswhat an exciting, visceral, poetic read. I adored the lack of sentimentality. Sinéad Hynes is complex and excellently realiseda role model too, for I found her (sometime) selfishness thrillingly refreshing. As You Were gives permission to Irish women to put themselves first, and considering what we've come from, that's seismic. Elaine Feeney is such a talent. I LOVED it!"—Marian Keyes

"A truly original voice. Raw, urgent and uncompromising about the lengths we go to to conceal hurt, deception, psychic pain... A brilliant portrayal of the kindness of strangers, the kinship of women and the heartbreak of married love."—Mary Costello

"The dialogue just crackles, the characters are so alive and real, there’s tragedy here, there’s comedy, there’s everything. It’s a really really fabulous book."—Donal Ryan

"Comic, heartfelt and full of characters who walk off the page, it feels like Irish writing has been waiting a long time for a voice as unique and insistent as Elaine Feeney. A superb, unforgettable debut."—Sinéad Gleeson

"Riveting … I was exhilarated reading this."—Roddy Doyle

"An absolutely fabulous book."—Kevin Barry

Praise for Things Are Against Us

"'Let’s complain,' urges the author of the prize-winning experimental novel Ducks, Newburyport at the outset of her first work of non-fiction, then valiantly leads the way. Over 14 entries that use approaches ranging from all-caps to page-swallowing footnotes, she takes on Trumpism, the beauty industry, patriarchy and crime writers, with charming tetchiness."—Globe & Mail

"[Lucy's] working in a tone familiar to lovers of E.B. White and Norah Ephron—knowing, funny, exhausted."—Chicago Tribune

“[Ellmann] lambastes the patriarchy with verve and gusto … The 14 pieces that comprise Ellmann’s discontents, vividly illustrated by Diana Hope, muster all of her comic powers in the service of her home truths … Ellmann is entertaining, funny, loopy and brave, but, importantly, she’s empowering. You remember that you’re not alone … It’s good to know Ellmann is keeping her formidable comic weaponry trained on the people who got us into this pig show.”—Pauline Holdstock, Winnipeg Free Press

“[Ellmann] delivers these diatribes with her signature wit and humor ... Each essay is accompanied by an illustration by artist Diana Hope, which complements the colorful nature of this collection. Fans of Ellmann will likely delight in Things Are Against Us.”—Chicago Review of Books

“As you might expect, a collection of essays by the author of the prize-winning stream of consciousness novel Ducks, Newburyport will not be boring or stuffy. ‘Let’s complain,’ she says in the preface and then proceeds to do just that. A collection of satirical essays written with biting wit, irreverence, and clever wordplay.”—Toronto Public Library

"In this offbeat essay collection, novelist Ellmann (Ducks, Newburyport) addresses complex systemic ills alongside petty grievances in an acerbic and hilarious litany of complaints ... Readers of Ducks, Newburyport will be familiar with her expansive writing style, which here manifests as a plethora of footnotes ... Fans of feminist satire will delight in these rants and ruminations."—Publishers Weekly

“Ellmann’s polemic is a medley: a wickedly funny, rousing, depressing, caps-driven work of linguistic gymnastics hellbent on upbraiding the deleterious forces of the prevailing misogyny ... Attentively negotiating a bleak world, the sentences remain joyous constructions ... ‘Let it blaze!’ commands Woolf in Three Guineas. At their brightest, Ellmann’s own pyrotechnics are ones to savour.”—Catherine Taylor, The Guardian

"[Ellmann is] out to foment revolution, and this book is nothing less than a manifesto ... Aimed at everything from air travel to zips, genre writing to men (above all, men), her ire is matched only by an irrepressible comic impulse, from which bubbles forth kitsch puns, wisecracking whimsy and one-liners both bawdy and venomous ... You don’t have to agree with everything Ellmann says to find this supple, provocative volume invigorating. Indeed, part of its craftiness lies in keeping the reader guessing about precisely how seriously she takes herself ... A manifesto worth getting behind. On second thoughts, better make it a womanifesto."—Hephzibah Anderson, The Observer

"Ellmann’s bravura polemic blends Woolfian hypotheses with Swiftian satire and her own rhetorical signatures ... Her deadpanning, her asides to 'darn a cheap sock' or 'caress husband’s cheek'—because there is such a THING as a mensch—her blazing diatribes and comedic energy fuel the purposeful lamentation of these hilarious and potent essays."—The Saturday Paper

“Witty, excoriating polemics ... Ellmann is fond of puns, alliteration and long lists of sharp adjectives and her put-downs are like a literary version of watching popcorn kernels sizzle and suddenly pop in the pan ... One of the beauties of Ellmann’s essays is the unexpectedness of her references. For all the wit and wordplay, Ellmann has important points to make, not least about the way that our flailing world is upheld.”—The Independent

"This new essay collection from the Booker-shortlisted author of Ducks, Newburyport is a romp. Singularly propulsive, balancing conversational irreverence with biting acuity, Lucy Ellmann’s writing drips with wry humour and productive anger. Her razor-sharp commentary never wavers ... Things Are Against Us figures patriarchy as a structure inextricably linked to capitalism, which is linked in turn to environmental devastation, exploitation and consumerism. As such, Ellmann’s essays focus on the dominant patriarchy—white, Western—and the women who live under it ... I can’t imagine anyone emerging unmoved."—i

“Things Are Against Us is far from conventional. The pieces that make up this collection are nothing so sober as ‘reflections’. Rather, they are rants of bracing, and often hilarious, frankness. If Ducks, Newburyport managed to poeticise that most anti-poetic of forms, the list, Things Are Against Us does the same for the rant: a niche, but traditionally male literary mode if ever there was one ... This analysis is channelled through both her writing’s humour and style. A bit like Fran Lebowitz, another great comic, Ellmann seems to hate everything and nevertheless love life ... Things Are Against Us is a wonderfully cathartic read. After the year we’ve all had, who wouldn’t want to scream?”—Irish Independent

“Innovative ... In tangential, informal, sarcastic slices of polemic, sprinkled with extensive footnotes sometimes longer than the essay itself, Ellmann ‘complains’ at length about the state of the world.”—New Statesman

"Witty, provocative ... As a polemic against the patriarchy, Ellmann’s collection has coherence ... It's in the titular—previously unpublished—essay that Ellmann reminds the reader what she’s capable of doing with language ... As the refrain builds into something bigger and more powerful, the essay gives credence to the suggestion that Ellmann is one of the few writers producing modernist work for the contemporary moment."—Financial Times

"All of this is, at least in part, an act, and a very accomplished one. She has the spiky wit of Nora Ephron, although Ellmann would perhaps not be flattered by a comparison with the mistress of romcoms ... Things is also extremely fun ... She has range as well as flair, and within this carnival of apocalypse, there are a couple of fine pieces of criticism ... Politically, this book is the hyperbolic sibling to the work of the feminist economist Katrine Marçal. Like her, Ellmann wants to expose society’s dependence on female labour and force us to confront ourselves as the vulnerable beings we are—before we destroy the world on which we rely."—The Spectator

Praise for Ducks, Newburyport

"This book has its face pressed up against the pane of the present; its form mimics the way our minds move now toggling between tabs, between the needs of small children and aging parents, between news of ecological collapse and school shootings while somehow remembering to pay taxes and fold the laundry."—Parul Sehgal, New York Times

“Ellmann captures the pathos of the everyday, how one might use pie crusts and film synopses to dam in pain ... [her] commitment to compilation and description suggests a resistance to hierarchies. It also flickers with tenderness. The time and care that she lavishes on her narrator seem like their own form of political speculation—that every individual is owed an unending devotion, and that such devotion, applied universally, might change the fate of the world."—New Yorker

"A sublime literary enactment of how guilt, grief, rage, regret, compassion, and every other emotion swirls and ebbs in unbalanced defiance of rational logic ... The free-associative stream accumulates into a work of great formal beauty, whose distinctive linguistic rhythms and patterns envelop the reader like music or poetry. Equally, it forms a damning indictment on capitalist patriarchy that, in an extraordinary feat from a writer at the height of her powers, never veers within a mile of sanctimony or self-righteousness. If art is measured by how skillfully it holds a mirror up to society, then Ellmann has surely written the most important novel of this era. "—The Paris Review

"In Ducks, Newburyport the invisible expropriation of women’s domestic labour is tied to the despoiling of the environment and the macho degradation of the public sphere. But this is to suggest the novel can be boiled down to one particular theme, when its entire premise refuses any kind of summary. In reading Ducks, wonder gives way to frustration, which gives way to wonder again, until finishing becomes a kind of contemplative vigil – an exercise in dedication...Ducks is asking us to imagine what a total, unboundaried empathy with another person could feel like." —New Statesman

“Breathlessly brilliant … an extraordinary achievement of wit and imagination … this isn’t just one of the outstanding books of 2019, it’s one of the outstanding books of the century.”—Irish Times

Praise for Lucy Ellmann

“When I first read Ellmann, I loved her bizarreness, her ferocious humour. But she’s even angrier now, more indignant, and that’s what gives this book its sly substance. The streak of fury that runs through it is stealthy, apparently feminine, cloaked in ditziness. But underneath there are claws and teeth."—Julie Myerson, Guardian

“[I]t’s somehow hard not to be optimistic in the hands of a writer so angry and intelligent.”—Patrick Ness, Guardian

“I have been told that reviewers complained about the use of screaming capitals in Lucy Ellmann’s first book, which is why she now packs every page with them . . . Her latest novel, a melded spoof of medical romances and Jane Eyre, is as lunatic and splenetic and distinctive as anything that will be published this year . . . I begin to suspect she may be some sort of genius."—Victoria Lane, Telegraph

“Ellmann’s writing is fearless . . . a whistle-stop tour of the paraphernalia that litters all our minds. Oddments that most of us notice and discard are here burnished into literary devices.”—Alice Fishburn, Financial Times

“If there were a laureate for anger, it should go to Lucy Ellmann.”—Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Praise for They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada

"Foster had the courage to examine the realities of race in this country long before it was commonplace to do so...Canadian multiculturalism rests on the shoulders of the sleeping car porters." —Globe and Mail

"In [They Call Me George] ...Foster aims to restore the identities of the Black men who once worked on Canadian railroads. In the process, he also excavates a chapter of Canadian history that has been largely erased from the collective memory: the role that Black train porters played in furthering social justice and shaping Canada into the country it is today." —Toronto Star

"Foster has dissected the myth of Canadian tolerance, born of our history as a haven for refugee slaves—exposing instead a past in which the English and French elites fought to create a white nation...Blacks and other Canadians of colour are not merely the beneficiaries of multiculturalism; they are its architects." —Donna Bailey Nurse, Literary Review of Canada

"Informative and well-written...We owe a debt of gratitude to [the porters], and to Foster for his masterful and insightful research and writing." —Daily Nation (Barbados)

"An excellent, well-written, and historically accurate volume." —UK Barbados Nation

"A bold book by a self-assured scholar who has rewritten our conventional history...says Foster: 'This important piece of Canadian history has yet to be fully told.' They Call Me George is [his] effort to do just that." —Winnipeg Free Press

"Mr. Foster’s well-written book about black train porters contains a wealth of information that is illuminating, revealing and, at times, disappointing. The beauty of the Canadian railroad had its ugly side, too." —Washington Times

Praise for Cecil Foster

"Cecil Foster is a wise man with a flair for storytelling and writing that enters the heart.” —Quill & Quire (Starred Review)

“Foster’s story of a West Indies community in transition is a marvelous read, filled with humour, sorrow, and wit, and told with the deft and gentle touch of a master storyteller.” —Thomas King

“Cecil Foster kicks up one hell of a class-war fuss and proves he’s got stuff enough to show those mediocre storytellers how it’s really done... Unforgettable.” —Toronto Star

“I don’t know when I’ve read a more evocative book about black men. Read it and you will see the world differently.” —Vancouver Sun

“Foster brings historical depth to his work and shows that the social and political recognition of blackness and multiculturalism is itself a contingent moment in history.” —George Dei, University of Toronto

Praise for The World at My Back

“Such books as The World at My Back recount experiences of total frenzy from a vantage point of clarity and calm. What makes Melle’s stand out is that he seems aware of how blackly funny the intimate details of psychotic breakdown can be. His narrative skill, in Luise von Flotow’s translation, had me laughing out loud without my losing sight of the sorrow and loneliness behind the succession of outrageous incidents.”
—New York Times

"Melle’s illuminating memoir, translated by Luise Von Flotow, recounts three prolonged manic episodes he had between 1999 and 2010, events that profoundly affected his life and relationships. He conveys with wit and tragedy what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder."
—New York Times

“Thomas Melle’s book takes readers on an at times shockingly articulate tour of his ‘nuclear’ version of bipolar disorder.”
—Globe and Mail

"Melle's account of life with bipolar disorder is candid and surprisingly intelligible."
—Literary Review of Canada

"The World at My Back is in no way an easy read; instead, it’s a candid and frequently harrowing chronicle of its author’s struggles with mental health over the years, and the cyclical nature of its effect on his life. In von Flotow’s translation, this book becomes a source of insight into what its author went through—and what he gained and lost along the way."
—Tobias Carroll, Words Without Borders

"[Melle’s] goal in The World at My Back ... is to show what being mentally ill is really like from the inside. That he is such a talented writer allows him to pull this off powerfully."
—Ottawa Review of Books

"Books written out of great emotional distress are often embarrassing. They are rarely great literature. Thomas Melle's book is great literature because he pulls it off without a single false note."
—Deutschlandfunk (German National Radio)

"Haunting insights into a bipolar identity as seen from the inside … Precisely because it is not a question of fiction—even if there is much talk of literature, even of a 'failed novel of education'—but of a poetic of the authentic, The World at My Back is an impressive document."
—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"The author of the book is Thomas Melle, his book is called The World at My Back, and it tells of a much greater conflict and a much greater shame than you, as a reader, will probably ever feel ... Manic-depressive disorder is the tragedy of Thomas Melle’s life. That we can read about it in this book in this way is a wrenching literary event."
—Die Zeit

"The World at My Back is a book that shakes and disturbs, one that wakes the reader with a punch in the skull, as Franz Kafka wrote ... Melle's text is unique because the author manages to draw you into the action and, as far as possible, give you a realistic impression of the illness … In spite of the desperation and darkness of the subject, you can hardly help but smile at the absurdities—even as they immediately stick in your throat. Added to this is Melle's lively storytelling style, which alone lifts the book well above the wide selection of memoirs of illness."
—Literaturkritik

Praise for Householders

“A book that so assiduously interrogates notions of identity and belonging ... Cayley’s language is precise and evocative ... Each of the collection’s stories—from ‘Pilgrims,’ about a woman who impersonates a nun online to find sympathy for her difficult domestic situation, to the stunning opener, ‘The Crooked Man’—contains writing that impresses with its barbed acidity as much as its clear-eyed observation ... The lambent prose frequently belies the emotional heft of the stories, which creep up on a reader.”—Quill & Quire, starred review

"I devoured this book. I hoovered it; I let its sorrow, its wonder, its yearning, swirl in the vacuum bag of my chest cavity. On every page there is so much honesty, insight, so much complex understanding."—Anne Fleming, Xtra Magazine

"Kate Cayley showcases virtuosic writing and captivating settings alongside intriguing plots that are handled with marked assurance from beginning to end ... More than reflecting sheer invention or technical mastery, the stories are anchored by multi-faceted characters reacting to or navigating unique practical and ethical dilemmas, which Cayley investigates with a thoughtful thoroughness."—Plenitude

"What Cayley has a gift for is getting into the minds and, more importantly, the hearts of characters far from the usual and revealing their humanity with a gentle incisiveness."—Maple Tree Literary Supplement

“It would be something of a shame to read any of these stories individually, or to read them just once through, as moving outside and around them is one of the pleasures of this text. Householders is not a collection about the singular self, but about the individual uneasily negotiating subjectivity in a manner that is intrinsically relational; and appropriately, the narratives seem to continue into and across one another, propelled by differences that underscore their symmetries."—Full-Stop Magazine

"Cayley writes with a passion that seems to extend that longed-for forgiveness to her characters when they cannot bring themselves to do it for themselves."—Memphis Flyer

“The stories in Householders are haunting and enigmatic, with a clarity of emotion that cuts through the dreamlike atmosphere Cayley has crafted ... With incredible attention to the nuance of interpersonal relationships—whether familial, romantic, situational, dysfunctional—each story in Householders is a window into an eerie but wonderful world.”—Fawn Parker, 49th Shelf

“You don’t have to come from a foreign country to be a stranger in your land. Cayley’s haunting short stories weave together stealthily, gentle until the cosh strikes your skull … Brutally, beautifully lyrical.”—Lavender Magazine

“Full of startling turns of phrase and evocative descriptions ... Cayley’s background as a poet—she has published two collections of poetry—shines ... With Householders, Cayley has envisioned a world that mirrors our own like a distorted funhouse—a place where the moral and physical stakes are heightened, where emotional bonds run deeply, and where something menacing is often lurking. It’s a frightening world, but it makes for a compelling story collection, as good to tear through for the narrative as it is to savor (and savor again) for the language.”—ZYZZYVA

“Literally took my breath away … Kate Cayley is splendid in her deft arrangement of the sentence, and in her depiction of the quotidian but just askew enough to be new and surprising. These stories are rich, absorbing, and oh so satisfying, and I predict this as one of the big books of the fall literary season.”—Kerry Clare, Pickle Me This

"Cayley’s ability to create characters that fascinate is something to behold."—Anne Logan, I've Read This

"Reading each story in Kate Cayley’s Householders is like entering a household, one that is unique in its treasured secrets and hidden corners of glory and shame. The inhabitants—a trio of aging hippies, a blogger masquerading as a nun, a group of traumatized escapees from a fanatical commune, a washed-up but still brilliant musician—are all seekers after whatever good life, or good death, they can find. Having met them, the reader is left with a lingering sense of responsibility, as for worrisome old friends who are loved in spite of themselves."—KD Miller, Scotiabank Giller Prize-nominated author of Late Breaking

"Taut and brimming with clarity."—Souvankham Thammavongsa, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of How to Pronounce Knife

"Cayley’s world is a dangerous place, all the structures built with discarded slivering wood and rusted nails, but one where strange sacredness arrives in the middle of the ordinary day. The mysterious reasons that push her misplaced, displaced people are as convincing as memories, painful but necessary to relive. Read these stories, you’ll be glad you did."—Marina Endicott, author of The Difference

Praise for Kate Cayley

"Cayley illustrates our human desire for permanence, and the corresponding impermanence of the physical body. Other Houses weaves a rare complexity of contemplations through metaphor, shape-shifting, and philosophical considerations. Efficiently stated, Cayley’s ideas are wise and well worth a read."—Quill & Quire

"Though its narrative is simple, the play is eloquent, subtly shaped and offers a formidable confrontation between its two characters, a painter and an army officer."—NOW Magazine

"When This World Comes to an End marks a captivating poetic debut for the busy writer ... Despite its breadth of history, When This World Comes to an End offers a succinct reflection of what has been and what will be. The purview of history is considered through known figures just as much as the insignificant acts of the everyday."—Toronto Review of Books

"Cayley shows us, in How You Were Born, that the impulse to collect and then work through anxiety imaginatively is important and powerful."—Cleaver Magazine

"Reading each story in Kate Cayley’s Householders is like entering a household, one that is unique in its treasured secrets and hidden corners of glory and shame. The inhabitants—a trio of aging hippies, a blogger masquerading as a nun, a group of traumatized escapees from a fanatical commune, a washed-up but still brilliant musician—are all seekers after whatever good life, or good death, they can find. Having met them, the reader is left with a lingering sense of responsibility, as for worrisome old friends who are loved in spite of themselves."—K.D. Miller, Giller-nominated author of Late Breaking

Praise for Chemical Valley

"In this courageous collection, David Huebert holds little back as he weaves superbly crafted stories of the dark, difficult, and gritty reality of being human. Whether it be the destructive impact we have on our environment, each other, or ourselves, Huebert tackles this challenge with intelligence and compassion, both in his language and style, and in the empathy with which he portrays the human experience. The intertwining of ugliness, beauty, metallic cold and human warmth, and destruction and hope, creates a visceral, hopeful, and rewarding experience for the reader."—Alistair MacLeod Prize Jury Statement

"Huebert’s uncanny facility for spinning densely poetic fiction out of the tawdry horror of twenty-first-century life has made him one of the most captivating authors of the past decade."—Literary Review of Canada

"Huebert has a razor-sharp wit and an exacting eye for human foibles ... A masterful assemblage of environmentally minded tales."—Kirkus

"Huebert’s prose shines, frequently catching the reader off guard with startling but memorable turns of phrase and delirious imaginative leaps. And while the manic energy, eccentric humour and wry observations on life and love keep us entertained, the book’s rich emotional core draws us in, touching us at the most profound level."—Miramichi Reader

"Huebert is a gifted short story writer. His characters do contain multitudes, each story a set of worlds. Collectively, they reflect our times, and help us contemplate the most dire of threats to our singular habitable planet."—Atlantic Books Today

"[A] masterful exploration of dirty nature writing ... Chemical Valley’s stories, for all their dystopian demons, are balanced by Huebert’s insistence on penning his characters with an empathetic hand. His gaze may be harsh, like the reality we inhabit, but his love for his fellow man, and our desperate desire for connection, is unwavering."—Hamilton Arts & Letters

"Huebert's stories feel polished, elevated and expansive. Their intensity invites readers to reread, whether out of necessity or enduring curiosity ... Huebert digs deep, things get messy, and there's often a glitter of unanticipated discovery in the recesses of his stories—but only for the potential to illuminate another layer of darkness."—Marcie McCauley, Event

"Thought-provoking, smart, and frighteningly surreal, David Huebert’s Chemical Valley is a brilliantly crafted collection of short stories that confront the violence of human nature in the natural world."—The Farside Review

"Huebert works to create a world that seems almost futuristic then slowly reveals that he speaks of now and how our choices are destroying our health and our planet. He makes us feel the emotional side of well-developed characters as they face the world in fear and wonder."—bUneke Magazine

“David Huebert’s short stories explore environmental dread and creeping climate chaos, but also the power of love and community in a damaged world.”—Laura Lynch, CBC What on Earth

"The characters in ... Chemical Valley live in a world that has been molded and shaped by neoliberalism and the oil industry ... It’s a situation that could easily elicit nihilism, doom, and mourning—a kind of eco-grief—and yet, the various stories in this collection strive and yearn towards a sublime toxicity that finds beauty amidst the debris, and accordingly, in the lives of its inhabitants."—PRISM International

"The stories are varied, featuring oil refinery workers, teenage climate activists, long-term care nurses, and more, showing the issues and intricacies of their lives in lush detail. The grim explorations of wealth inequality, illness, and bereavement are counterbalanced by the rich and lyrical prose, providing heartfelt insights into today’s damaged world and the individuals who inhabit it."—ZYZZYVA

"Chemical Valley is full of stories that are beautiful, gross, depressing and uplifting all at once. Through the use of dazzling language and complex characters, this deeply thoughtful collection will truly get you thinking."—Dalhousie Gazette

"[D]ark, disturbing, excellent ... As a result of [Huebert's] poetic literary powers, I found myself mesmerized by the words and stories in this book, despite the grim contents. Or, even, because of them."—Consumed By Ink

"Chemical Valley—both in terms of its storytelling and presentation—shines on just about every meaningful level."—Always A Critic

"By delving into the lives of a range of characters, feral hockey players, grieving shift-workers, and love-sick teenagers, Huebert asks an urgent question—how to survive in a world that values chemicals and capitalism over human life? Lively, affecting, tragic, careful, and shot-through with humor, the stories seeped under my skin. I won't forget them any time soon."—Claire Cameron, author of The Last Neanderthal

“These stories are a making and unmaking, a feeling into the world and then a kind of visceral wrenching so that all that is or was once living unwinds and flashes of story break free—binding the reader into the flesh of a burdened earth, still breathing. An ecstatic surrender of beloved flesh, and dream, and carbon beings through geological and human (altered) time. Huebert tinkers human time across industrial effigies that make and break and will one day also be broken—a dream not yet quite dreamt, but this work is part of the dreaming. This collection is, in Huebert’s own exquisite play of words, ‘beautiful and polluted, toxic and sublime.’”—Angélique Lalonde, author of Glorious Frazzled Beings

“Visceral, intelligent, and original, David Huebert’s Chemical Valley displays a deep empathy and understanding of human relationships and a profound concern for our world. I was struck by how Huebert can take the grittiest of subject matter and turn it beautiful with his lyrical, alchemical prose. The stories in this collection are saturated with imagery and full of exquisite, textured language: this is the kind of writing that deserves to be read closely.”—Shashi Bhat, author of The Most Precious Substance on Earth

Praise for David Huebert

"In David Huebert’s 'Chemical Valley,' the narrator’s remarkable voice is laced with dark humour while displaying a tremendous depth of feeling as he cares for his dying partner and navigates a dangerous workplace replete with unpleasant coworkers. This is a complex story about love, death, and grief set in a contemporary Canadian community plagued by petrochemical-induced diseases and environmental ruin. The attention to language is so meticulous that tragedy is imbued with an aura of beauty. Each exquisite sentence in 'Chemical Valley' produces a sense of wonderment as the narrative crescendos to its harrowing conclusion."— 2020 Journey Prize Jury statement

"A paean to intimacy and to things rarely seen, 'Enigma' is an eloquent meditation on the mystery of life and death, love and grief, both human and animal. This is a vivid personal narrative of remarkable spiritual and emotional grace." —2016 CBC Prize jury statement (

"David Huebert’s short story collection, Peninsula Sinking brings all of the beauty, grace and heartbreak that the form excels at and then rattles you with its imagery."—The East Magazine

"A sense of wonderment penetrates the everyday lives of characters from the Maritimes in this well-crafted, compelling collection that displays a mastery of classical short-story structure and technique. Huebert’s vibrant language juxtaposes tough characters with tender preoccupations, creating narratives that are unsettling and mesmerizing, making ordinary moments in relationships thrilling and dangerous."—2017 Danuta Gleed Jury

Praise for A Factotum in the Book Trade

"A Factotum in the Book Trade is memorable because a) it’s well-written, and b) it’s close in touch with the books. [...] It's an account of a life well, happily and grouchily lived."—Dwight Garner, New York Times

"A Factotum in the Book Trade displays the prose style of someone who takes inordinate delight in the unlikely conjunctions afforded by such places. Kociejowski pinpoints the joys of bookstores for readers and booksellers both, while sketching a miscellany of the personalities he has encountered throughout his career."—Literary Review of Canada

"A representative slice, a core sample, of the rich and partly vanished world of bookselling"—The New Yorker

"A dizzying diversity of books and authors strike against each other, creating sparks of insight. In the space of a few pages, he mentions Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry Green, Emily Dickinson, William Hazlitt, J.L. Carr and Patrick Leigh Fermor, offering concise assessments of each. Frequent footnotes, rendered as chatty asides, deepen his memoir’s digressive charm."—The Wall Street Journal

"A Factotum in the Book Trade is an extraordinary work that will give all readers an increased appreciation for what books are and the many intricate roles that books play in our lives."—Ottawa Review of Books

"[A Factotum in the Book Trade] is cranky, obscure, charming, ... and illuminating. It reads like a used bookstore smells."—Globe & Mail

"Bibliomaniacs will find much to warm their hearts as author Marius Kociejowski shares his love of books, travel and name-dropping anecdotes of those famous in the arts and in the antiquarian book trade in England."—Ron Robinson, Winnipeg Free Press

"An accomplished poet and beguiling essayist [...] [Kociejowski is] spiky and forthright in his views.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"Eccentric, meandering ... fascinating"—The New Criterion

"It is a witty tribute to a disappearing niche industry, and its wistful reflections complement its sense of passion for unexpected troves"—Foreword Reviews

"Full of humour, and gossipy in a good way, A Factotum is also tinged with an autumnal sense of loss and the self-examination of a man looking back on half a century in the trade. From start to finish the book is a delight."—The Spectator

"Kociejowski is eloquent about the magic of books, their bindings and associations."—Times Literary Supplement

“[I]n the book’s swirling opening chapter [...], we find him reflecting on a working life (mostly in the antiquarian book trade) [...] Mortality sets off this reflection [...] then books [...] and bookselling [...] It is this interplay between books (Kociejowski has authored books of poetry and travel writing) and bookselling (a staging ground into which enter books, employees and casual customers, but also literary archives, personal libraries, collectors and celebrated authors like Patti Smith, Robert Graves and Bruce Chatwin) where the magic happens." —Michael Turner, The British Columbia Review

"An absolute 'must' for the personal reading lists of all authors, publishers, booksellers and dedicated bibliophiles, A Factotum in the Book Trade is an absorbing, entertaining, informational, and inherently fascinating combination of memoir and book trader insights and commentaries. One of those life stories that will linger on in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf ... A Factotum in the Book Trade should be on the Biography/Memoir shelf of every community, college, and university library."—Midwest Book Review

"He awakens in me that first understanding I had about books and literature when I was young ... a wonderful read."—Antanas Sileika, author of Underground

Praise for Marius Kociejowski

"Kociejowski draws on all the aspects of his life in these engaging, idiosyncratic personal essays ... [that] proffer the reader equal measures of autobiography, insight and quirky charm." —Michael Dirda, Washington Post

“Here the charm is deep, the splendour unlaboured; the colours of history, reckoned afresh, saturate singular people, in whom passion is lucid again...here is one who collects his extraordinary resources, and strides.”—Christopher Middleton

“It is a testament to the power of this superb book that I felt not despondency, but ... elation."—Adam Thorpe, Times Literary Supplement

"Treasures are revealed ... with a formidable erudition, and at their best they gleam with an enameled splendour."—Ken Babstock, Globe and Mail

"Kociejowski writes beautifully ... unusual, poetic, and thought-provoking."—Library Journal

Praise for Temerity & Gall

"Incandescent [...] steeped in acid wit."—Literary Review of Canada

"[Metcalf's] exacting eye and his ongoing willingness to call out what he considers substandard, inert, or deadening in our literary culture has earned him opprobrium ... One need not agree with everything [he] says to find much to gnaw on in his analyses of the various ways literary technique and style ... are too often downgraded or outright ignored. ... While it’s amusing to wrestle with the temerity and gall of Metcalf’s settled esthetic standards ... his achievement in translating this approach into practice as mentor and guiding light is invaluable and we are all in his debt."—Steven W. Beattie, Toronto Star

"[Metcalf] deliver[s] a layered and textured narrative highlighting a wide range of writing and writers, one that immerses the reader into the soul of what writing, and thus literature, is supposed to be. And in this, he has succeeded."—Ottawa Review of Books

"Temerity & Gall is obviously a must-have for book lovers but, since it presents Metcalf’s energetic meandering from a re-union of the Montreal Story Tellers through colourful observations and unabashed opinions, it can be enjoyed by anyone seeking stimulation of the mind."—Winnipeg Free Press

Praise for John Metcalf

“John Metcalf has written some of the very best stories ever published in this country.” —Alice Munro

“[Metcalf’s] talent is generous, hectoring, huge, and remarkable.” —Washington Post

“In the past few decades, Canada has won a reputation as a prolific producer of high-quality short stories. Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant and John Metcalf are among those who have proven themselves masters of the difficult form.” —Maclean’s

“Hilarious, touching and delightful … brilliant concision and understated humor.” —Los Angeles Times

“A master stylist confidently at work in his favoured form.” —Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature: Second Edition

“Masterful ... Harsh reality, hope, and caricature mingle in this tour de force. As Metcalf says in his previous book, "Writing is very hard work but at the same time it is delightful play." An exceptional collection.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)