Life Without Death
by Peter Unwin
ISBN: 9781770862432
Format: Trade Paperback w/ Flaps
Size: 5.36" x 8"
Subjects:
FIC019000 FICTION / Literary
FIC029000 FICTION / Short Stories (single author)
Price: $21.00
Publication Date: May 21, 2013
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Synopsis:
In Life Without Death, the latest short story collection from Peter Unwin, ordinary men and women search for meaning in lives subject to change, chance, coincidence, and catastrophe.
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A man recalls a lifetime of love and loss while copying contacts out of his old little black book. A woman is left her dying father's secret stash of pornography, and is entrusted with the unenviable task of disposing of it. A new father unexpectedly discovers a way of connecting to his autistic son. For one day, guests to a wedding set aside their various past misdeeds in order to celebrate a young couple's union. A teenager newly introduced to a life of petty crime suddenly finds himself in way over his head. A man's former acquaintance resurfaces decades later as the subject of a haunting art film.
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Unwin's characters live full, complex lives within each story. Though they may not find the simple answers they seek, if such answers even exist, they-and readers-gain something far more valuable on their journeys: perspective.
Shortlisted, 2014 Trillium Book Award (English language)
Shortlisted, 2014 ReLit Award (Short Fiction)
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Reviews
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“[Refuses] to explain things in a blandly expository manner … the essential loneliness and alienation of the characters is exposed and, in very rare instances, transcended.”
— National Post