When Gil Adamson published her first volume of poetry entitled Primitive, readers immediately recognized her special voice, with its partnering of the random and the surreal with a finely tuned technical brilliance. Adamson cites as her influences Michael Ondaatje, Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, and Creole writer Mark Richard. Barbara Gowdy hailed the poems' `ferocious energy that burns through every line,' and Doug Fetherling cited the collection's `pyrotechnic excellence.' Reviews of Help Me, Jacques Cousteau have already garnered the same level of praise. Doug Fetherling says, `The linked stories in Gil Adamson's fascinating book proceed from the assumption that the dysfunctional family is the basic unit of society. When she writes of coming of age in suburbia, she does so with a poet's ear, a comic's delivery, and a pathologist's attention to unpleasant detail.'
It is through Hazel's observant but detached eyes that we watch the family's goings-on, her unflinching vision informed by the precocious perception that however bad things may be they are only likely to get worse. She watches with bemusement as they go through the rituals of a Christmas dinner that culminates in attending the funeral of a man not one of them knew, and of a wedding that ends with the bride storming out. She senses that her mismatched parents, narcoleptic and impractical North and prosaic Janey, are headed for a rupture but is content to let things unravel in their own ineluctable fashion. Hazel's younger brother Andrew shows signs of following in the family's unconventional footsteps with his addiction to TV, his bizarre questions (`If you had to kill your best friend or your parents, which would it be?'), and his strange inventions, like solar-powered curtains. Yet however odd and even slightly menacing the world inhabited by these fully-fleshed characters, there is an unnerving familiarity to their dilemmas and discordancies that makes the stories resonate with conviction.
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Praise for The Outlander:
'A remarkable first novel, full of verve, beautifully written, and with all the panache of a great adventure'
(Michael Ondaatje)"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Book Description Wraps. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition. A Good Read ships from Toronto and Niagara Falls, NY - customers outside of North America please allow two to three weeks for PO gift inscription inside front wrapper, slant to spine, discoloration to upper back tip of wrapper. Foxing on edges of text block. ; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 36330
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. A Good Read ships from Toronto and Niagara Falls, NY - customers outside of North America please allow two to three weeks for delivery. ; 4.55 X 0.46 X 8.69 inches; 152 pages; Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 206395
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing softcover in Fine condition. Unsigned. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 000210
Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Near Fine. First Edition, First Printing. The book is near fine with very slight edge wear. Seller Inventory # 008402
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: NF. Connected short stories. Seller Inventory # 1130021
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition 1995. Signed, Inscribed on Title page. Seller Inventory # 978088984161C
Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Fine. First Edition, First Printing. The book is inscribed, signed and dated by the author on the full title page. Seller Inventory # 012566
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good Plus. No Jacket. First Edition. Flat SIGNED on the title page by the author, Ms. Adamson. Like new, gently read and not remaindered. Interior is clean except as noted. Short stain to the bottom edge of the front & rear wrap which has seeped into the first few pages, front and back and to some pages in the middle of the book, light scuff marks to pages140/141 and spine slightly cocked. Dust jacket has minor shelf wear to show. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 001117