Growing up in British Columbia, Deni Ellis Bechard believes his charismatic father is infallible. Wild, unpredictable, even dangerous, Andre is worshipped by his son, who believes that his father can do no wrong.

But when Deni’s mother leaves his father and decamps with her three children to Virginia, the boy learns of his father’s true identity. Andre Bechard was once a bank robber-and so Deni’s imagination is set on fire. Boyish rebelliousness gives way to fantasies of a life of crime. Only when he goes off to college, however, does Deni begin to unravel the story of his father’s life, eventually finding the Quebecois family that Andre left behind long ago.

At once an extraordinary family story and a highly unconventional portrait of the artist as a young man, Cures for Hunger is a deeply affecting memoir by one of the most acclaimed young writers in the world today.