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A Boy of Good Breeding: A Novel

Product ID : 19276560


Galleon Product ID 19276560
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About A Boy Of Good Breeding: A Novel

Product Description When life in Winnipeg does not go as planned, Knute Corea-McCloud returns to her parents' home in tiny Algren, Manitoba, with her daughter, Summer Feelin', and takes a job with longtime mayor Hosea Funk, who dreams of meeting the Prime Minister and of uncovering the truth about his parentage, in a whimsical tale of small-town Canadian life. Original. From Publishers Weekly In the tradition of Lake Wobegon, Toews ( A Complicated Kindness) gives us Algren, Manitoba, a town noteworthy because, with 1,500 colorful residents (give or take), it ranks as Canada's smallest town. For the town's painfully shy mayor, Hosea Funk, Algren's small population spurs both pride and constant anxiety. He tallies births, deaths and all other arrivals and departures to make sure the population hews to the magic number 1,500—less than that, and the town diminishes to a mere village, but more than that and Algren might outgrow its title. Funk's obsession isn't motivated just by bragging rights, but also by a family secret: on her deathbed, Funk's mother told him that the prime minister of Canada is his long-lost father, and that same prime minister has pledged to visit the smallest Canadian town. When single mother Knute McCloud and her kinetic young daughter return to Algren and Funk's own long-distance romance threatens to catch up with him, Funk's compulsive people-counting tests his already awkward human relationships. First published in Canada in 1998, this is a sweet, funny novel full of memorable, picaresque characters and unexpected drama. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Small-town life is a lot more eventful than one might think, especially for the mayor of Algren, the smallest town in Canada. Hosea Funk works hard to keep the population at just the right amount to maintain the town's designation. His anticipated reward is a promised visit from the prime minister as part of the Canada Day celebration. He spends his time keeping careful track of births and deaths, arrivals and departures. In his obsessive attention to his population, he risks things of real value, but does come to realize what indeed matters. Algren may be small, but love and loyalty are in good supply, as are the odd characters, including a couple of unusual single mothers--Hosea's mom, Euphemia, and Knute, whose daughter is named Summer Feelin'--who make life there unique and wonderful. Toews, author of A Complicated Kindness (2004), offers a mellow summer interlude that allows readers to revel in the not-so-simple pleasures of small-town life, and consider what matters most. Danise Hoover Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "A Boy of Good Breeding caught me at the throat, made me laugh and weep with sad-sweet joy .... [The characters ] get under your skin, and finally, it seems, into your very blood, where they quicken the heart ....Tonic for the spirit: a charming, deeply moving, unerringly human story, perfectly shaped and beautifully told." --"The Globe and Mail "Reading [Toews ] is like climbing into a fizzy bath of lunatic humour ....Buried in the mysteries of parenthood, love and death are at least a couple of home truths." --"Toronto Star "This is a lovely book; each character is a real person, fully realized ....But you'll have to read A Boy of Good Breeding for yourself, to be moved by the story's unfolding to a resolution that promises much; Toews has given us a novel that lets us write her characters' futures." --"Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal From the Inside Flap From the acclaimed Giller Prize Finalist and Governor General's Award Winner: a delightfully funny and charming second novel about Canada's smallest town. Life in Winnipeg didn't go as planned for Knute and her daughter. But living back in Algren with her parents and working for the longtime mayor, Hosea Funk, has its own challenges: Knute finds herself mixed up with Ho