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From Publishers Weekly
In the tradition of Lake Wobegon, Toews (A Complicated Kindness) gives us Algren, Manitoba, a town noteworthy because, with 1,500 colorful residents (give or take), it ranks as Canada's smallest town. For the town's painfully shy mayor, Hosea Funk, Algren's small population spurs both pride and constant anxiety. He tallies births, deaths and all other arrivals and departures to make sure the population hews to the magic number 1,500—less than that, and the town diminishes to a mere village, but more than that and Algren might outgrow its title. Funk's obsession isn't motivated just by bragging rights, but also by a family secret: on her deathbed, Funk's mother told him that the prime minister of Canada is his long-lost father, and that same prime minister has pledged to visit the smallest Canadian town. When single mother Knute McCloud and her kinetic young daughter return to Algren and Funk's own long-distance romance threatens to catch up with him, Funk's compulsive people-counting tests his already awkward human relationships. First published in Canada in 1998, this is a sweet, funny novel full of memorable, picaresque characters and unexpected drama. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Booklist
Small-town life is a lot more eventful than one might think, especially for the mayor of Algren, the smallest town in Canada. Hosea Funk works hard to keep the population at just the right amount to maintain the town's designation. His anticipated reward is a promised visit from the prime minister as part of the Canada Day celebration. He spends his time keeping careful track of births and deaths, arrivals and departures. In his obsessive attention to his population, he risks things of real value, but does come to realize what indeed matters. Algren may be small, but love and loyalty are in good supply, as are the odd characters, including a couple of unusual single mothers--Hosea's mom, Euphemia, and Knute, whose daughter is named Summer Feelin'--who make life there unique and wonderful. Toews, author of A Complicated Kindness (2004), offers a mellow summer interlude that allows readers to revel in the not-so-simple pleasures of small-town life, and consider what matters most. Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Toews beautifully captures the simple joys of life,
This review is from: A boy of good breeding: A novel (Paperback)
I recently read Miriam Toews' "Swing Low", which is a memoir of her father. I picked up Boy of Good Breeding because I loved her writing style, which is casual, simple, and honest. Immediately, the characters grabbed me, and I could not put the book down. The people, who reflect real people - as I discovered as a result of reading the memoir - are beautifully portrayed, and their curious idiosynchracies made me chuckle. It's just a fun book, which is a pleasure to read, that leaves you with a good feeling.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual characters make this an enjoying read,
By
This review is from: A boy of good breeding: A novel (Paperback)
I first heard of Miriam Toews (pronounced Taves) when an excerpt from "A Boy of Good Breeding" was read on CBC Radio One while I was traveling in Canada recently. I was captivated and wound up purchasing the book. The story centers on the zany characters who live in fictional Algren, Manitoba, which at 1,500 people is in the running for Canada's smallest town, and its eccentric mayor is intent on keeping it that way until Canada Day (July 1), for reasons which I won't go into to avoid spoiling your fun. Toews has a gift for making ordinary people and their failings (teenage motherhood, poverty, chronic depression) interesting and sympathetic, without drowning in sentimentality. I was so hooked by this book that I purchased and read "Summer of my Amazing Luck," which won a Manitoba award in 1996. It too was amusing, warm and thoroughly enjoyable
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful!,
By Brown Sugar (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Boy of Good Breeding (Paperback)
I really loved this book - the eccentric characters and plot are unforgettable, the language simple yet tender. It made me long for the days when my own town used to be as small and intimate as Algren.
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