- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Emblem Editions (Mar 2 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0771054769
- ISBN-13: 978-0771054761
- Product Dimensions: 18.5 x 12.7 x 0.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 68 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #144,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Canada may be the only country in the world to have produced a substantial number of town-explosion novels. Twenty-six, Leo McKay Jr.'s first novel, following his Giller-nominated collection of stories Like This, falls neatly into a tradition firmly established by Hugh MacLennan's Barometer Rising and extended by Al Purdy's A Splinter in the Heart: drawn into the crucible of a community-shattering disaster (the still-infamous Westray coal-mining tragedy), a troubled family must come to terms with its roiling inner resentments.
The family in this case is the Burrows clan, a troubled collection of violent, alcoholic, and underemployed working-class men, and the women who put up with them. Ennis Burrows, the family patriarch, is a former labour agitator, now retired due to a weak heart. His two sons, Arvel and Ziv, have responded to their town's chronic joblessness in different ways: Arvel trained as an electrician and now works underground in the Eastlake mine, while Ziv, a university dropout, has taken a dead-end job at Zellers. Ziv's ex-girlfriend, Meta, is on the other side of the world, teaching English in Tokyo, but she too is drawn into the circle of aggression, love, despair, and grief that builds around the unfortunate family. McKay's storytelling hearkens back to the earnest work of MacLennan, Hugh Garner, and Morley Callaghan--aside from the profanity and sex and the scenes set in Japan, Twenty-six reads as though it could have been written half a century ago. Lovers of old-school CanLit are in for a treat; those who prefer more contemporary work may not find Twenty-Six to be quite as satisfying. --Jack Illingworth --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
“Universal in its scope.… The novel is about memory, loss, guilt, and the light of redemption – sometimes, but not always, before it is too late.”
–Alistair MacLeod
“Remarkable.… Beautifully written.… Clarity is the miracle that chugs away at the heart of Twenty-Six. McKay –David Macfarlane, Globe and Mail
“Swift, honest, unsentimental storytelling and characters, both real and imagined, vivid enough to rise above their hard, often tragic lives.… [A] moving, well-crafted novel.…”
–Maclean’s
“[A] knockout debut novel bound for classic status. Twenty-Six resonates with style, lyricism and compassion.… An impressive work of fiction that pulsates with imaginative life.… It can be placed alongside Each Man’s Son, Mercy Among the Children, Fall on Your Knees and No Great Mischief. It’s that good.”
–Kitchener-Waterloo Record
“A cleanly crafted, richly evocative portrait of a community of families.… Leo McKay Jr. has created an entire world so skilfully that it’s jarring when the book ends, when one is reminded that these are merely characters, no matter how human they seem.”
–Vancouver Sun
“Just as David Adams Richards has made the Miramichi district of New Brunswick his own literary turf, so has McKay laid claim to Nova Scotia’s Pictou County.… Twenty-Six is an enjoyable novel full of pulsating life, crisp dialogue and clear observations that you want to consider long after you’ve read the last page.”
–Winnipeg Free Press
“Sparse yet powerful prose, sharply etched characters, a riveting story with a catastrophic tragedy about to befall; these make for a compelling novel.… It’s a stunning debut, showing a deft touch with language and an ability to depict human frailty.…”
–Hamilton Spectator
“A compelling account of lives shattered and lives redeemed by disaster.… An unforgettable story of one family’s anguish and survival.”
–Halifax Chronicle-Herald
“[Twenty-Six is] brilliant in the way it constantly exposes the rawness of lives lived in a world where those who should give a damn – those in positions of power – simply
don’t.… Engrossing.…”
–Edmonton Journal
“Brilliant.… Twenty-Six is a beautiful book.…”
–St. John’s Telegram
–Alistair MacLeod
“Remarkable.… Beautifully written.… Clarity is the miracle that chugs away at the heart of Twenty-Six. McKay –David Macfarlane, Globe and Mail
“Swift, honest, unsentimental storytelling and characters, both real and imagined, vivid enough to rise above their hard, often tragic lives.… [A] moving, well-crafted novel.…”
–Maclean’s
“[A] knockout debut novel bound for classic status. Twenty-Six resonates with style, lyricism and compassion.… An impressive work of fiction that pulsates with imaginative life.… It can be placed alongside Each Man’s Son, Mercy Among the Children, Fall on Your Knees and No Great Mischief. It’s that good.”
–Kitchener-Waterloo Record
“A cleanly crafted, richly evocative portrait of a community of families.… Leo McKay Jr. has created an entire world so skilfully that it’s jarring when the book ends, when one is reminded that these are merely characters, no matter how human they seem.”
–Vancouver Sun
“Just as David Adams Richards has made the Miramichi district of New Brunswick his own literary turf, so has McKay laid claim to Nova Scotia’s Pictou County.… Twenty-Six is an enjoyable novel full of pulsating life, crisp dialogue and clear observations that you want to consider long after you’ve read the last page.”
–Winnipeg Free Press
“Sparse yet powerful prose, sharply etched characters, a riveting story with a catastrophic tragedy about to befall; these make for a compelling novel.… It’s a stunning debut, showing a deft touch with language and an ability to depict human frailty.…”
–Hamilton Spectator
“A compelling account of lives shattered and lives redeemed by disaster.… An unforgettable story of one family’s anguish and survival.”
–Halifax Chronicle-Herald
“[Twenty-Six is] brilliant in the way it constantly exposes the rawness of lives lived in a world where those who should give a damn – those in positions of power – simply
don’t.… Engrossing.…”
–Edmonton Journal
“Brilliant.… Twenty-Six is a beautiful book.…”
–St. John’s Telegram
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5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting!, April 10 2003
By lisa - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Twenty-Six (Hardcover)
This is an amazing book. The author makes you feel compassion for all of these characters who sometimes do terrible things. There is a such a sense of hope coming from the terrible Westray tragedy. I read this book in one day because I could not put it down. It is riveting.
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