New Releases by Douglas Glover

Why do we read? What do we cherish in a book? What is the nature of a masterpiece? What do Alice Munro, Albert Camus, and the great Polish experimentalist Witold Gombrowicz have in common? In the tradition of Nabokov, Calvino, and Kundera, Douglas Glover’s new essay collection fuses his long experience as an author with his love of philosophy and his passion for form. Call it a new kind of criticism or an operator’s manual for readers and writers, The Erotics of Restraint extends Glover’s long and deeply personal conversation with great books and their authors. With the same dazzling mix of emotion and idea that characterizes his fiction, he dissects narrative and shows us how and why it works, why we love it, and how that makes us human. Erudite and obsessively detailed, inventive, confessional, and cheeky, these essays offer a brilliant clarity, a respite in an age of doubt. They raise the bar.

1880 Paris, Texas sat on the edge of one of the most dangerous territories of the Old West. As a young girl, Lydia Forsyth loses her best friend when their family is robbed and murdered by three vicious men. After committing outrages against the family, the trio escapes to safety into the Indian Territory. Comforted by her loving parents, Lydia vows to learn the gun for protection. Following the loss of her mother, she travels the Indian Territory with her mercantile sales representative father. She becomes familiar with Choctaw culture as well as gaining an understanding of the dangers of camping in the wilds of the Territory. Later, Lydia boards at a finishing school in Dallas. Upon graduation, she returns to Paris, Texas where she seeks to become a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Southern Indian Territory. The attractive, skilled horsewoman is an expert marksman who always rides with Colt Revolver on her hip and a Winchester on the saddle. This historical novel of the Old West is brimming with suspense, humor, and the personal relationships of a passionate young woman who becomes one of the select few women to wear the Star of a Deputy U.S. Marshal and ride the Indian Territory serving justice.

Women also won the West. They were a hardy lot, willing to give all to make a go for themselves in a harsh land that knew no bounds of punishment. Of necessity, they learned the land, how to read men, and to use firearms. They learned their lessons well. Laura Sumner is such a woman. 1878 proves an eventful year for Laura. Her cousin Victoria, from New York City visits the Sumner Horse Ranch in the Colorado Territory. The Easterners soon find themselves out of their element. Laura proves that she is not only a Lady, but also well accustomed to life on the frontier. Laura returns to her birthplace, Dallas, Texas to help her parents save their small farm from foreclosure. An unscrupulous rancher wants the Sumner farm for less than honest reasons. When the rancher threatens violence, she takes steps to protect them in spite of overwhelming odds. The lady horse ranchers year continues as she and her best friend, Cole Stockton, travel by rail to San Francisco. Another adventure unveils as Laura again proves her mettle under desperate circumstances. In mid-November, Laura is overdue back at the ranch and her wranglers fear for her life as Mickey, Lauras mount, gallops wildly into the ranch yard with reins trailing. A wild blizzard is hot on his heels. Laura is hurt and alone in the wilderness, and must use all means at her disposal to survive. A novel of the Old West, packed with the drama and suspense of interpersonal relationships, outlaws handled with determination and six-gun justice, as well as personal hardship, and adventure.

Vitriolic and incisive, Douglas Glover's newest essays defend literature against the assaults of a post-literate age.

The Stockton Saga continues. Cole Stockton, renowned gunfighter, swears in as Deputy United States Marshal; however, it takes more than a badge and a fast gun to deal with lawless elements in the wild Colorado Territory. It takes skill and steadfast determination in the face of overwhelming odds to enforce justice. Texas born Laura Lynne Sumner inherits her Uncle Jesses ranch after he is murdered by rustlers. Her uncles hired hands refuse to work for a woman and desert her. She is left to work the ranch alone. Riding the Colorado Territory in search of wild horses is hard enough for a man accustomed to the trails; for a woman alone, it takes shear guts. In order to make a go of it, Laura needs men who will staunchly support her. The paths of lawman and lady converge to share a destiny foretold to Laura years earlier, One will stoke the fires of your soul. He is born of deadly skill, yet you will seek the comfort of his honor. An historical novel of the Old West, packed with the drama and suspense of wild horse hunts, interpersonal relationships, and outlaws handled with six-gun justice.

Winner, Governor General's Award for Fiction Shortlisted, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and Commonwealth Writers' Prize A 16th-century belle turned Robinson Crusoe, a female Don Quixote with an Inuit Sancho Panza -- this is the heroine of the novel that won the 2003 Governor General's Award. Elle is a lusty, subversive riff on the discovery of the New World, the moment of first contact. Based on what might be a true story, the novel chronicles the ordeals and adventures of a young French woman marooned on the desolate Isle of Demons during Jacques Cartier's ill-fated third and last attempt to colonize Canada. In this new readers' guide edition, Douglas Glover's carnal whirlwind of myth and story, of beauty and hilarity brings the past violently and unexpectedly into the present. His well-known scatological realism, exuberant violence, and dark, unsettling humour give his unique version of history a thoroughly modern chill.

"A Shiny Christmas Star"-U.S. Marshal Cole Stockton and his best friend Laura Sumner both have fitful dreams about blankets of snow and starving "little" people. When they lead a quest to find the origin of the nightmare, four people come together in this heartwarming story about the true meaning of Christmas. "Star of Peace"-Cole has a dilemma: he can't find a suitable Christmas gift for Laura. In the meantime, a traveling medicine show advertises "the fastest and most accurate gunman in the world"-and Cole is glad to show him up. Laura has a hard time keeping track of her baked holiday goodies, and Cole discovers the peace of Christmas. "The Greatest Gift"-Just days before Christmas, Cole is en route to Laura's ranch. Laura has visions of frozen wastelands and senses that Cole is in extreme danger. When Cole is attacked by a large cougar, both man and beast fall into an icy river, hurtling toward the falls. Cole is hurt, lost, and alone in the frozen wilds of Colorado with seemingly no means of survival Author Steven Douglas Glover delivers three classic stories about the faith, peace, and love that are Christmas.

"This book is filled with a great love for the art of writing and is a celebration of the act of reading. Through the prism of the renowned Russian Formalist Viktor Shklovsky, Douglas Glover provides a scrupulous reading of Cervantes's Don Quixote. By showing us how Cervantes constructed his novel, and how we as readers participate in his magical creation, he opens the 400-year-old Spanish masterpiece to a new generation of readers. Glover seduces us with his stunning prose, while making it possible for even the casual reader to understand and enjoy Cervantes's genius."--BOOK JACKET.

Douglas Glover's raucous first novel was a finalist for the Books in Canada First Novel Award and sold out its first and only print run in just one month. Now mystery fans and readers of literary fiction alike can once again enjoy this witty post-modern detective tale by the author of Elle. The eponymous central character in Precious is a boozy, burned-out reporter with an embarrassing nickname and a penchant for getting into trouble. After three failed marriages and a humiliating stint in a Greek jail, he will do anything for the quiet life. A job as woman's page editor for the Ockenden Star-Leader seems like just the ticket -- that is, until town gossip Rose Oxley winds up dead with a pair of scissors lodged in her chest. Suddenly Precious finds himself embroiled in a hilariously over-the-top murder mystery, brimming with delicious satire about the newspaper business and culminating in a characteristically outrageous Gloverian showdown with firearms, snowmobiles, and booze. Inviting comparisons with the novels of Jasper Fforde and Ross MacDonald, Precious deftly combines an ingenious literary parody with the plot of a richly satisfying mystery.

Après avoir énuméré les seize sortes de désir, soeur Marie Buntline en arrive à la conclusion qu'il n'y a pas de fin au désir, et chacune des nouvelles de ce recueil est une preuve de cette affirmation.

This celebrated collection of stories maps the human heart in all its passion, valour, ineptitude and vulnerability. Occasionally scabrous, horrifically funny, intermittently appalling and always human, these stories bring to life a world in which a screen of irony may be the only defence against fear and loneliness.

A novel loosely based on the life of Captain Hendrick Nellis, a Tory guerrilla and redeemer of whites abducted by Indians.