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At forty, deeply iconoclastic Spat Ryan is recently divorced, unemployed, and frequently intoxicated. Inspired by the cliche “we’re only as sick as our secrets,” he decides to reveal himself a piece at a time for the “cure.” A deeply skeptical outsider, stunted by many adolescent appetites, Spat survived his often violent, terrifying past by keeping his darkest truths out of mind. A wholly unpopular student, he was christened “Big Dummy” by a nun teaching at his junior high. The name Spat the Dummy and an unearned bad reputation followed him to the end of his miserable school years. Raised by a bagman for the Irish mob, Spat has fictionalized or ignored chuinks of his life too painful to contemplate. When he meets an old friend of his father’s in a bar on the Main, they develop a camaraderie built on memories of the man they both revered. During a drinking session with his father’s old friend, it is revealed that she, too, has been keeping the same secret that ultimately shaped Spat’s tumultuous life. Her reaction to the recollection ends their friendship and begins his quest to understand how he became hiself. ‘Spat the Dummy’ is a brilliant debut novel that will have readers longing for more from this wildly original writer.

“This is a satisfying read from a talented author that manages to convey the rather hopeful message that each od Spat’s small successes mean moe than all of his spectacular failures combined.” – Montreal Gazette

‘Spaz’ introduces Walter Finch, an ungainly kid who survives his cloying suburban childhood to make it only as far as the local mall, where he rises through the ranks to become manager of a shoe store. Unlike his other childhood friends, who either flee suburbia or remain as resigned fixtures, Walter is content with his lot and finds the shoe store a perfect environment in which to pursue his grander ambitions. As he delves further into his passion for shoe design, alone in his apartment at night, Walter comes to believe that if he can design the perfect woman’s shoe, he will ultimately find the perfect foot to fit it. He becomes convinced that this path will lead him to his princess. His mission becomes all-consuming and plunges Walter into a separate reality: his own fairytale. As things spin out of , Walter’s eventual salvation arrives in an unlikely form, should he choose to recognize and accept it. ‘Spaz’ is a skewed spin on the tale of Cinderella, a complementary follow-up to Bonnie Bowman’s first novel, ‘Skin’, with its elements of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Shoes figure prominently in this novel, and the protagonist views them as both his nemesis and his salvation. They begin his story, he believes they will end it, and they do. Shoes represent every step of his journey.

” ‘Spaz’ really is terrific. Bowman demystifies the aberrant. As in her debut novel, ‘Skin’ (which I loved when I read it a decade ago), her themes are ugliness and beauty and how the bodyis the engine for desire. If that makes ‘Spaz’ seem too serious, don’t worry. It’s jolly fun.” – Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg)

“In this sly story of a misfit visionary, Bowman assembles a beguiling cast of characters, striking a perfect balance between the completely outrageous and the completely true-to-life. This is a novel that never stops entertaining.” – Lynn Coady author of ‘The Antagonist’ and ‘Mean Boy’