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Put frankly, this is one of the best books of 2004… [It] integrates traditionalist excellence with inspired innovations and creates something unique in the process. You Kwaznievski… is literature that is truly symphonic.
(I keep reaching for music metaphors — ‘operatic,’ ‘symphonic’ — because I’m not sure how else to describe this book. Like a Van Gogh painting filtered through Jackson Pollack? Like Eminem jamming with Pink Floyd?
… Any weaknesses in this book? ...Some readers may might say: ‘Too much philosophizing.’ For those readers, there are many other books out there to please them. Personally, I wouldn’t ask Lavery to change a word.)
… Lavery’s stories are serious and ambitious in a way that most books in Canada are not. Publishers complain that short story collections don’t sell — as if sales were the sole criterion for publishing decisions. You Kwaznievski… will not be the next Da Vinci Code, but no matter — it is the kind of book that ought to be winning all of the high-falutin’ literary prizes — both in Canada and abroad.
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