Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Publisher: House of Anansi
Author Site: PatrickdeWitt.net
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-77089-032-9
Genre: Novel
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The Recommend
I know, how lame of me to recommend the big award-hog of the year, but I’m doing so, not because this is a damn fun read, but because deWitt’s tale of two outlaw brothers challenged conventional CanLit to a duel in 2011, and it won.
It won by excelling in … pleasure-to-read-ness. DeWitt forgoes the flashy CanLit diction I usually judge a book by; he favours an offbeat and unforgettable 1st-person voice that lassoes your attention and puts you right in the cowboy boots of Eli Sisters, as he and his brother embark on a great misadventure full of plot, lively whores, one-eyed horses, toothpaste, and brilliantly rendered brilliant madmen.
The book is somehow as touching as it is absurd. I can’t promise you your money back if you don’t love this novel; but I do promise to think less of your taste in books.
The wild success of this wildwest tell marks a gamechaging moment in CanLit: pleasure-to-readedness is going outlaw, and might be the new sheriff in CanLitVille, over what has previously defined it, be that elegant diction or complexity of narrative structure.
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Chad Pelley, everyone!
Chad Pelley is a mediocre, but multi-award-winning writer from St. John’s, Newfoundland.
His debut novel, Away from Everywhere, was a Coles bestseller, won or was shortlisted for 4 awards, and a film adaptation is in the works.
His short fiction has won awards, been anthologized, and published in journals and all that.
His second novel, Every Little Thing (or, Two Empty Hands), is currently doing the rounds, hoping someone wants the thing.
He’s taught creative writing, runs Salty Ink.com, and has written for a variety of publications, such as Quill & Quire, The National Post, and The Telegram.
He also sells photography and writes a dozen songs a month, but cannot sing well enough to pursue a career in music, hence the fiction writing thing.
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