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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa Paperback - 1998

by Andre Alexis


From the publisher

These eight stories reveal a world that's both recognizable and strange: cities of anxiety and violence, where quiet inhabitants lead outwardly banal lives that conceal sinister interiors. The premises, both fantastic and surreal, are also eerily plausible; they often follow the logic of dreams where the real can appear in disguise. Though geographically rooted, the setting - from Ottawa to Toronto and the South of France - take on an ephemeral dimension: the geography is of the subconscious. With his darkly philosophical bent and sly humour, Alexis has fashioned an underworld and limned it with light. Despair quakes with life and sings with the imaginative brilliance of one of the most accomplished new talents writing today.

From the jacket flap

These eight stories reveal a world that's both recognizable and strange: cities of anxiety and violence, where quiet inhabitants lead outwardly banal lives that conceal sinister interiors. The premises, both fantastic and surreal, are also eerily plausible; they often follow the logic of dreams where the real can appear in disguise. Though geographically rooted, the setting - from Ottawa to Toronto and the South of France - take on an ephemeral dimension: the geography is of the subconscious.
With his darkly philosophical bent and sly humour, Alexis has fashioned an underworld and limned it with light. "Despair quakes with life and sings with the imaginative brilliance of one of the most accomplished new talents writing today.

Details

  • Title Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
  • Author Andre Alexis
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Thus
  • Pages 232
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • Date 1998-09-12
  • ISBN 9780771006661 / 0771006667
  • Weight 0.7 lbs (0.32 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 in (21.34 x 13.72 x 1.78 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
    • Cultural Region: Canadian
    • Ethnic Orientation: Native American
    • Geographic Orientation: Ontario
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

“Readers will be rewarded by this collection’s extraordinary depth of field and by its author’s vibrant intelligence.”
–Branko Gorjup, Review of Candian Fiction

“Alexis is among those whose talent could take him anywhere.”
Canadian Forum

“He has a bizarre and brilliant wit.”
Ottawa Xpress

“His stories are powerful, disturbing, and beautiful.”
–Harry Mathews

About the author

Andr Alexis was born in Trinidad in 1957 and grew up in Canada. His debut novel, Childhood (1998), won the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, shared the Trillium Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Rogers Communications Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. It has been published around the world. He is also the author of an internationally acclaimed collection of short stories, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa (1994), which was shortlisted for a Regional Commonwealth Prize, and he has published a play, Lambton Kent (1999). Andr Alexis lives in Toronto, where he is at work on his next novel.
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Despair : And Other Stories of Ottawa
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Despair : And Other Stories of Ottawa

by Alexis, Andre

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 1998. Remainder. Fine. Soft cover. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. This is a tight clean copy but for a remainder mark on the bottom edge. 229pp.
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Despair and other stories of Ottawa
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Despair and other stories of Ottawa

by Alexis, Andre

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McClelland & Stewart, 1998. Soft cover. VG+.. 8x5x0. A collection of eight short stories about the sinister interiors of people who outwardly lead quiet, banal lives. Review copy.
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Despair : And Other Stories of Ottawa

Despair : And Other Stories of Ottawa

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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
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by Alexis, Andre

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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa

by Alexis, Andre

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Despair : And Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair; and Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa

by Andre Alexis

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by Alexis, Andre

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Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart, 1998. Paperback. As New. As New condition; These eight stories reveal a world that's both recognizable and strange: cities of anxiety and violence, where quiet inhabitants lead outwardly banal lives that conceal sinister interiors. The premises, both fantastic and surreal, are also eerily plausible; they often follow the logic of dreams where the real can appear in disguise. Though geographically rooted, the settings - from Ottawa to Toronto and the south of France - take on an ephemeral dimension: the geography is of the subconscious.
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa
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Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa

by Alexis, André

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1998. First Thus. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 8vo. 229 pp. McClelland and Stewart reprint of the author's first book.
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