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Waiting for the Man
Giller-longlisted fiction — now in trade paper
Joe, a 36-year-old advertising copywriter for a slick New York agency, feels disillusioned with his life. He starts dreaming of a mysterious man, seeing him on the street, and hearing his voice. Joe decides to listen to the Man and so he waits on his stoop, day and night, for instructions. A local reporter takes notice, and soon Joe has become a media sensation, the centre of a storm. When the Man tells Joe to “go west,” he does, in search of meaning.
A surreal journey of a man who is searching for purpose and for happiness, Waiting for the Man is about the struggle to find something more in life. The paperback edition includes a bonus BackLit section with a reader’s guide, Q&A with the author, and more.
“That it’s hard to put down is a credit to Basu’s perfect sentences and clear sense of direction … I want to say that it’s reminiscent of Hemingway, but in a way that sounds nothing like him. It is, however, the perfect style for this novel, a retelling of the American Dream that Hemingway would never have understood.” — National Post
“Although this is the author’s debut novel, his experience at shorter forms (Squishy) shows; fans of his 140-character Twisters on Twitter will be pleased to know that the author’s talents are on display in this novel.” — Publishers Weekly
“Waiting for the Man is observant and clever, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Basu toys with his readers, pushing us away to point out the distance at which we hold the characters and stories that populate our pages and screens, and reminds us there is always more to the story.” — Katia Grubisic in Montreal Review of Books
“Waiting for the Man is captivating, aggravating, enlightening and redemptive.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Perhaps the dark subtext to this entertaining novel is that movement is impossible, even for many seemingly privileged boys … Waiting for the Man hides a chilling truth under its light-hearted surface: the American Dream is a trap.” — Quill & Quire
“Although this is the author’s debut novel, his experience at shorter forms (Squishy) shows; fans of his 140-character Twisters on Twitter will be pleased to know that the author’s talents are on display in this novel.” — Publishers Weekly
“Waiting for the Man is observant and clever, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Basu toys with his readers, pushing us away to point out the distance at which we hold the characters and stories that populate our pages and screens, and reminds us there is always more to the story.” — Katia Grubisic in Montreal Review of Books
“Waiting for the Man is captivating, aggravating, enlightening and redemptive.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Perhaps the dark subtext to this entertaining novel is that movement is impossible, even for many seemingly privileged boys … Waiting for the Man hides a chilling truth under its light-hearted surface: the American Dream is a trap.” — Quill & Quire
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