Longlisted for the 2014 Frank O'Connor Award Novelists: the soul of an age, certainly. Brilliant? Perhaps. Yet aren’t they also doddering, petulant, pedantic, knockkneed, skittish, and thunderingly insecure-resentful, awkward, annoying-demanding, deluded, and vexingly indifferent to reality? New from short fiction devotee C.P. Boyko, Novelists is a comedy of manners (and manuscripts), rivalling Vanity Fair for its satirical wit… though not, mercifully, for its length. PRAISE FOR NOVELISTS
Proudly, gloriously, gleefully old-fashioned in their style and settings, these largely comic stories about the worst traits of artists are more serious than they at first seem: they depict the petty insecurities that fuel every creative act. -Russell Smith
If you are a normal person, these stories, with their pitch-perfect satirical humour and their finely tuned sentences, will make you laugh out loud. If you are a writer, first you will squirm with recognition while envying his impressive vocabulary, his nimble grammar, and his startling imagery, and then you’ll laugh out loud. -Diane Schoemperlen PRAISE FOR C.P. BOYKO
Readers will enjoy the author’s versatility, quirky (sometimes uproarious) sense of humor, sardonic view of the world, and fruitful imagination … Libraries with any short-fiction readers should buy this book and keep an eye out for the next one. -Booklist, starred review
Nothing short of astonishing. -The Walrus
Keep your eye on this young Canadian talent. -Chatelaine
Stunning … Boyko has an unstoppable imagination. -The Globe & Mail
Stealthy, seductive … A collection that in many ways … will provide thought-fodder, not to mention good old-fashioned pleasure, for months. - The Montreal Gazette
Fans of satirical fiction will love this … impeccably researched and unflinchingly intelligent. -The National Post
