C IS FOR CANADA and T IS FOR TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

This book crept up on me. It started off almost annoyingly mellow but I was beguiled by the utter weirdness of the narrator. Not only was he unreliable, he was also so stubbornly naive that exploring the world of the novel became especially interesting, because we were doing it together, and because he was so masterfully rendered deadpan. And then fantastic things started happening which made the reading into a bizzare mix of a quality magical realism road trip and a pretty dark comedy. It was awesome. But the Trinidad-born Alexis does not only know how to entertain the reader: he is also a top-class satirist, who made fun of the white North American gentry sensibilities perfectly.

I don’t even know that much about Canada but the jokes landed and everything worked, which is a testament to the power of the writing. And could I have experienced a better introduction to a country than through a lens of color, class and so much fun? Looking forward to reading more from Andre Alexis: he is my favorite writer from now on, most definitely.

Days by Moonlight by Andre Alexis
Published by Coach House Books in 2019