No Great Mischief – A Novel - Softcover

Macleod, Alistair

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393341194 ISBN 13: 9780393341195

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

Synopsis

Alistair MacLeod musters all of the skill and grace that have won him an international following to give us No Great Mischief, the story of a fiercely loyal family and the tradition that drives it. Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.

About this title

Review:

Mesmerizing.--Margaret Flanagan

[MacLeod's] entire oeuvre . . . [is] a new land that [readers'] imaginations can seize like a manifest destiny.--Thomas Mallon

You will have scenes from this majestic novel burned into your mind forever.--Alice Munro

His writing, graceful and elegiac, has the resonance of Steinbeck, and the violence is as raw and unchecked. But his pictures--of the men, the land and their fate--are more fragile, like old photographs pulled from a wallet. Endlessly creased, they will fall apart unless you unfold them with great care and patience--which MacLeod does beautifully.

About the Author:

Alistair MacLeod (1936--2014), raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, was an acclaimed Canadian novelist, short story writer, and academic.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0393341194
• ISBN 13: 9780393341195
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304