Len Gasparini is a master of the dark, hard-edged, densely layered story. In his latest story collection, The Snows of yesteryear, he charts the climate of the human heart with compassion, humor, nostalgia, and irony. His characters are shaped as much by fate as by the hungry ghosts of their own pasts. A desperate publisher dreams up a clever hoax to save his weekly newspaper from going under. Life and art are crucially juxtaposed when a painter sees his ideal model in a young black stripper. A cynical pensioner finds a new purpose in life when his lady friend adopts an ageing Siamese cat. Other stories are comic and nightmarish by turns.
For the first time, all of Len Gasparini's published books and chapbooks of poetry--totaling more than 200 poems--are collected in this volume. Exploring realities both ordinary and extraordinary, this voice in Canadian poetry is authentic and sincere.
Len Gasparini was born in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit. A former semi-pro baseball player, he quit school at 17 to embark on a lyric quest for objective experience; and he spent some time in the U.S. Navy. His books poetry include Breaking and Entering, Ink From an Octopus, Selected Poems, and, for children, I Once Had a Pet Praying Mantis. In 1990, he was awarded the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize for poetry. Mr. Gasparini has also been a poetry-review editor for Books in Canada and Poetry Canada Review. His poetry has been anthogized in Canada and the U.S. He lives in Toronto.
With their staccato rhythm and attention to detail these stories recall emotions, memories, atmosphere, and even physical sensations with a powerful freshness. Gasparini's ability to render passion and humanity ensure a truly memorable and compelling collection.
This offbeat story collection effortlessly captures dark underworlds and the eccentric characters that inhabit them. In one story, a jealous tattoo artist revenges himself on the woman he loves. In another, one horrifying realization after another comes to light during a harmless childhood game. Told with a Hitchcock-like flair for psychological detail, these disturbing stories reverberate with gruesome plot twists and remarkable turns of fate.
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