"Longlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Brilliantly sure-footed, strikingly original, tender and funny, this collection of nine linked stories follows a diverse group of curiously interrelated characters—from bank manager to crackhead to retired Samaritan to web designer to car thief--as they drift through each others’ lives in Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside.
These engrossing stories, gleefully free of moral judgment, are about people who are searching in the jagged margins of life -- for homes, drugs, love, forgiveness. Ranging from the tragically funny opening story “Emergency Contact” to the audacious, crack-fuelled rush of “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” to the deranged and thrilling extreme of “King Me,” The Beggar’s Garden is a powerful and affecting debut, written with an exceptional eye and ear and heart."
I'm not sure I would use the word "brilliant" in describing these stories but they're pretty good and I think the insights into the people described are well done. This was a selection for the Fireside Readers Bookclub at the Joe Fortes Library in the West End. The great thing about bookclubs is they get you introduced to titles you might not notice or read. More about this bookclub in a later post.