The Abandoned

By (author): Kyp Harness

Among the strip malls, industrial parks and overpasses of Southwestern Ontario, Tim is a young misfit with an overactive imagination and a heavy-drinking father, surrounded by bullies at school and wondering if he’ll ever be normal. He experiences first love with another high school student, Sherrie, and at the same time he meets his first friend, Russ. In pursuing Sherrie, Tim is drawn into a cult-like religious retreat, and his friendship with Russ takes a strange turn as the three teenagers confront their vanishing childhood.The Abandoned is the dense and dazzling follow up to Harness’s critically acclaimed novel, Wigford Rememberies.Praise for Wigford Rememberies:“Pen in hand, there seems to be nothing Harness cannot do.”—The Globe and Mail“Kyp Harness’ prose has a unique flow: word and action, thought and thing are all contiguous and combined in lovely braided sentences. There’s some Joyce splashed around Wigford Rememberies, a satisfying read. This is a fantastic book. Please just read it.”—Tony Burgess“Told with unshrinking honesty and real compassion …these characters and their stories will linger with readers.”—Publishers Weekly

AUTHOR

Kyp Harness

Kyp Harness is a musician and author. Ron Sexsmith called him “one of the finest songwriters on the planet” and his books continue to generate wide critical acclaim. He is the author of the novel Wigford Rememberies (Nightwood Editions, 2016) and the non-fiction works The Art of Laurel and Hardy (McFarland, 2006) and The Art of Charlie Chaplin (McFarland, 2008), as well as creator of the web comic Mortimer the Slug. Harness lives in Toronto.


Reviews

“I first fell in love with Kyp Harness’s uniquely commanding, urgent narrative voice when I cranked his album The Floating World and I remember thinking: this guy needs to write a book! Now, here he is on his second literary outing and, true to form, the voice is no less arresting, relevant or brazenly lyrical. If anything this vivid new novel showcases an artist at the heights of his creative vision. CanLit would be well served if he writes at least ten more.”
– Joel Thomas Hynes, author of We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night

Awards

  • ReLit Awards for Novel 2019, Short-listed
  • Excerpts & Samples ×
    Among the strip malls, industrial parks and overpasses of Southwestern Ontario, Tim is a young misfit with an overactive imagination and a heavy-drinking father, surrounded by bullies at school and wondering if he’ll ever be normal. He experiences first love with another high school student, Sherrie, and at the same time he meets his first friend, Russ. In pursuing Sherrie, Tim is drawn into a cult-like religious retreat, and his friendship with Russ takes a strange turn as the three teenagers confront their vanishing childhood.The Abandoned is the dense and dazzling follow up to Harness’s critically acclaimed novel, Wigford Rememberies.Praise for Wigford Rememberies:“Pen in hand, there seems to be nothing Harness cannot do.”—The Globe and Mail“Kyp Harness’ prose has a unique flow: word and action, thought and thing are all contiguous and combined in lovely braided sentences. There’s some Joyce splashed around Wigford Rememberies, a satisfying read. This is a fantastic book. Please just read it.”—Tony Burgess“Told with unshrinking honesty and real compassion …these characters and their stories will linger with readers.”—Publishers Weekly

    Reader Reviews

    Details

    Dimensions:

    192 Pages
    8.5in * 5.5in * 0.55in
    0.9lb

    Published:

    October 20, 2018

    Publisher:

    Nightwood Editions

    ISBN:

    9780889713451

    Book Subjects:

    FICTION / Literary

    Language:

    eng

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