Radio Jet Lag
by Gregor Craigie
ISBN: 9781770866713
Format: Trade Paperback w/ Flaps
Size: 5.5" x 8.5"
Subjects:
FIC019000 FICTION / Literary
FIC016000 FICTION / Humorous / General
FIC045000 FICTION / Family Life / General
Price: $24.95
Publication Date: June 17, 2023
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Synopsis:
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Stephen Millburn moved halfway across the country, from Ottawa to Victoria, to fulfill his dream of being an early-morning radio host, but he’s barely holding it together. Trying to balance parental duties (he and his wife have a newborn son) with his work schedule leaves Stephen running on coffee fumes and falling asleep at the most inconvenient times, including mid-broadcast.
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Stephen treads a narrow path at CIFU. When he arrived, the station ranked dead last in ratings. Months into his new hosting position, his show and the station are growing in popularity. He’s something of a golden boy — but he’s a golden boy with a passion for good journalism, which leads him to pursue a story about an encampment of unhoused people on the lawns of the city’s court house.
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Bleeding heart liberalism is not the stuff that Mr. George Caulfeild, station owner, believes his new audience wants to hear at eight a.m. and Stephen finds himself in a seriously conflicted position. He needs this job to support his growing family and pay down his crippling mortgage, but he knows this exposé is ethically and politically important — and it’s a journalist’s dream story. Will he be able to pull it all together or is he heading for a downfall?
Longlisted, 2024 Leacock Medal for Humour
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Reviews
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“Radio Jet Lag is a polished gem of a novel exploring how a sleep-deprived morning show host balances the needs of his young, growing family life with the demands of his intense private radio gig, all while honouring his own principles. By turns funny and moving, fascinating yet familiar, Gregor Craigie has written a novel for our frenetic times.”
— Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour
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“With a sympathetic protagonist, relevant themes, and a compelling plot underpinning its light tone, Radio Jet Lag is an auspicious fictional outing … We are a country with a rich comic tradition … and Craigie is a welcome new addition to the canon.”
— Ginny Ratsoy, The British Columbia Review
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“But there’s more to ‘Radio Jet Lag’ than sympathy-inducing slapstick, elements that make it as engrossing as it is entertaining.”
— Brian Bethune, The Toronto Star
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“Craigie’s straightforward writing allows his excellent comic timing to take centre stage … Radio Jet Lag is charming and relatable.”
— Literary Review of Canada
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“An amiable picaresque, moving smoothly from one comic setpiece to the next.”
— The Vancouver Sun
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