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Book Cover for: Grab Bag, Derek McCormack

Grab Bag

Derek McCormack

"Anyone interested in the more wicked, crafty and inventive forms of Canadian writing would be well advised to spend time with McCormack." --Toronto Star

"Boy, can Dennis Cooper find 'em! Grab Bag will grab you, all right; plain, simple, and hard." --John Waters, filmmaker

Grab Bag is comprised of two interrelated novels, Dark Rides and Wish Book, from one of Canada's most important young writers. Both books are set in the same small rural city, in different eras (1950s, 1930s), each characterized by McCormack's spare and elliptical prose.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
  • Publish Date: Jun 1st, 2004
  • Pages: 206
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.28in - 5.36in - 0.61in - 0.47lb
  • EAN: 9781888451597
  • Categories: LGBTQ+ - GayLiteraryHistorical - General

About the Author

McCormack, Derek: - DEREK McCORMACK is the author of Grab Bag (Akashic), The Show that Smells (Akashic), and The Haunted Hillbilly (Soft Skull), which was named a "Best Book of the Year" by both the Village Voice and the Globe and Mail, and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He writes fashion and arts articles for the National Post, and lives in Toronto.

Praise for this book

Grab Bag culls the best of the perverse and innocent world of Derek McCormack. The mystery of objects, the lyricism of neglected lives, the menace and nostalgia of the past--these are all ingredients in this weird and beautiful parallel universe.--Edmund White
Boy, can Dennis Cooper find 'em! Grab Bag will grab you, all right; plain, simple, and hard.--John Waters, filmmaker
Anyone interested in the more wicked, crafty and inventive forms of Canadian writing would be well advised to spend time with McCormack.-- "Toronto Star"
A rare treat . . . Weird, inventive, wonderful.-- "Village Voice"
The first U.S. outing for the sexy, edgy Canadian novelist, steered your way by the gratifyingly dark-souled Dennis Cooper.-- "The Advocate"
Every once in a while, however, I'll find a novel . . . which serves as a reminder that there is relevance and substance out there. Derek McCormack's Grab Bag is one of these rare gems.-- "Punk Planet"
McCormack's prose is . . . remarkably and deceptively simple. Grab Bag grabs you in its steely grip almost without you noticing, and the hard, plain language delivers the stories straight to the core of your being.-- "Gay Times"
A kaleidoscopic look at a world of cheap furbelows and carnival flash, a place where childlike wonder goes hand in hand with cruel cynicism, and where even the promise of heaven appears as tawdry as an eyeshadow case.-- "Chicago Reader"