Description
“The truth of these new kids was, they were a savage northbound monsoon that hit Drew at least as hard as he hit them.”
By turns quirky and hard-edged, these are the stories of three boys growing up in the suburbs outside Halifax. Frustrated with their parents’ inadequacies, unaware they possess the same ones, and inexplicably drawn to one other like a rudderless family lacking the necessary moral role models, they struggle to overcome their own weaknesses and most toxic traits.
From one another they draw strength to survive schoolyard bullying, racism, domestic abuse, first love, the local drug economy, and even the loss of their parents. But they are never despondent, and will leave readers with hope that people—young men in this case—can grow and become better.
Customer Review –
Excellent writing and compelling stories – Glad to read this thoughtful book. Tight writing with compelling stories that are linked in the general malaise of an adolescence spent in suburbia. Recommend strongly.
Customer Review –
The Art of Forgiveness, like the adolescent boys at the heart of these linked stories, contains a depth and complexity beneath the simplicity of its form. The stories fizz with the sublimated angst, rage, and longing of the protagonists who express, with fists and fast cars, sex and sarcasm, what their world will not allow them to say directly. Beneath the bravado are young men coming to terms with loss and trying to find their place in the world. Benjamin depicts the inarticulate inelegance of adolescence with honesty and empathy – and reminds us that young men can be achingly, excruciatingly vulnerable. – Kate Brooks