Blackouts
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When a man loses the will to live, a special “replacement program” allows him to go on—with one important difference. During the London Blitz, a professional skeptic attempts to refute the ESP experiments of a committed believer in the paranormal, only to have his own faith challenged by an unlikely source. In the Journey Prize-nominated “OZY,” a twelve-year-old learns something about mortality when the boys in his neighbourhood vie for the glory that comes with claiming a spot on an arcade game’s high-score list. In a story set against the backdrop of Stalinist Russia, a seasoned political informant finds himself questioning long-held beliefs after a series of charged encounters with a fallen aristocrat. By turns exuberant and elegiac, moving and intellectually playful, profound and delightfully droll, Blackouts marks the debut of a staggeringly talented writer of astonishing range, originality, and vision. Shortlisted for The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Best First Book (Canada & Caribbean) “Nothing short of astonishing.” —The Walrus “Stunning. ... Boyko [has an] unstoppable imagination.” —The Globe & Mail “Stealthy, seductive. ... Blackouts will provide thought-fodder, not to mention good old-fashioned pleasure, for months. Oh, and if Blackouts were assessed a batting average, it would be somewhere around .800. That’s enough to win the title in most leagues.” —The Gazette (Montreal) “Craig Boyko writes stories that will make your jaw drop and your heart swell. Blackouts is a knockout.” —Neil Smith, author of Bang Crunch “Evidence of Boyko’s obvious talent can be found on virtually every page. His diversity of voice, subtle wit, loving attention to milieu, deft characterizations ... each of these elements shine throughout.... Blackouts marks an auspicious arrival.” —Edmonton Journal “Craig Boyko’s stories are seriously clever, and show a bold imagination. He writes with elegance, too.” —Russell Smith 
Length: 336 pp 
Canadian English rights, McClelland & Stewart For all other rights contact The Cooke Agency.
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With this breathtaking first book of stories, twenty-eight-year-old Craig Boyko joins the front ranks of Canada’s finest young writers. Boyko’s stories explore those crucial moments when we seem most lost to ourselves and to those who think they know us best. Yet, whether he inhabits the mind of a precocious preteen or an elderly man, Boyko gives us characters we feel we have always known.
