The Last of the Crazy People

Description

While other 11-year-old boys are preoccupied with things like hockey, television and having fun, Hooker broods about his dysfunctional home-life. With a mother who refuses to leave her room, a brother in an alcoholic haze and a father who’s unable to hold things together, Hooker’s world is one of bewilderment and conflict. Feeling alone and unhappy, the young boy seeks to put an end to all of the confusion in The Last of the Crazy People, Timothy Findley’s astonishing debut novel.”[A] most affecting account of the world which closes in on Hooker Winslow during his eleventh summer. . . . The writing, clear and clean, is close to the bone.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A stark and horrifying book that denotes a young writer of talent.” —Publishers Weekly

“Findley is very gifted, sure of himself, and light on his feet. The dialogue is uncannily accurate and the passion burns with an ominous, tragic glow from start to finish. . . . Stunningly vivid.” —R. V. Cassill, author and literary criticTIMOTHY FINDLEY (1930–2002) was one of Canada’s most compelling and best-loved writers. He is the author of The Wars, which won the Governor General’s Award and established him as one of Canada’s leading writers, as well as Pilgrim and The Piano Man’s Daughter, both finalists for The Giller Prize. His novella, You Went Away, and short fiction have been awarded numerous accolades and are well loved both in his home country and internationally. Of his plays, Elizabeth Rex won the Governor General’s Award for Drama and The Stillborn Lover was bestowed a Chalmers Award. Findley was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985 and a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1996.CA