From Publishers Weekly
The Insolent Boy, the debut novel from Canadian author and filmmaker John Stiles, certainly is aptly titled. It follows the turbulent life of narrator Selwyn Davis from toddlerhood to early middle age. A talented, intelligent but deeply antisocial boy, he is nurtured by adoptive parents in rural Nova Scotia. After a doomed romance, he leaves home and falls in with a rock band that takes him around the world including a stint in a Japanese prison. Though the book's second half feels a bit rushed, Selwyn is a memorable (if not exactly lovable) protagonist, and Stiles tells his grimly comic story with wit and heart.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
What if Anne Shirley, the sweet heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels, was born in 1970 and decided to join a rock band? John Stiles's wonderful first novel answers these questions, in a manner of speaking. In the grand tradition of the Bible's prodigal son, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stiles gives us The Insolent Boy.
About the Author
John Stiles is a poet, novelist, and filmmaker. He is the author of one previous collection of poetry, Scouts Are Cancelled, and a novel, The Insolent Boy, both published by Insomniac Press. Originally from Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Stiles currently lives with his wife in London, England.
