In stories both absurd and all-too-real, Christopher Evans paints a portrait of the uncanniness of modern life.
The president of a holistic dog food company is haunted by a pop song from her past. Nine siblings band together to raise themselves after parental abandonment. A domestic argument reveals a woman's supernatural gift. A failing musician finds his calling soundtracking another man's life.
Christopher Evans's stories are people with strays -- those who fall for the allure of nostalgia, grapple with male fragility, deny family trauma, and acquiesce to authority. For these characters, resignation and reinvention are only a breath apart.
Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth is a bold debut collection that sits at the threshold of expectation and reality.
About the Author :
CHRISTOPHER EVANS is a graduate of the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing Program and a former Prose Editor for PRISM international. His work has appeared in Best Canadian Poetry, New Quarterly, Lifted Brow, EVENT, Maisonneuve, and elsewhere and has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He currently teaches creative writing to children in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
Review :
"Christopher Evans's stories fracture the mundane to reveal a bedrock of absurdity. Like Donald Barthelme, Evans brandishes humour in the face of reality, both defamiliarizing and helping us see more clearly the familiar emotional lives of his characters. These stories will make you laugh -- until you notice your reflection peeking out between the pages." -- John Elizabeth Stintzi, author of Vanishing Monuments and Junebat
"Evans's stories are littered with characters who are under the impression they are normal people. They are horribly, tragically mistaken . . . a perfect depiction of human nature. These stories are hilarious, strange, and touching. At their root, they are an exploration of the deep sadness of modern existence, which can only be conveyed through an equally deep humour." -- Jen Neale, author of Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalist Land Mammals and Sea Creatures
"In crisp, forthright prose, Christopher Evans's clear-eyed and compassionate collection of stories documents a present (and near future) that is both utterly bizarre and ambiguously hopeful. This is exactly what we need to be reading." -- Carleigh Baker, author of Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalist Bad Endings
"The stories in Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth draw readers into tiny worlds where the unreal combines seamlessly with the everyday. Written with humour and grace, Christopher Evans's characters are thrown into situations that grow absurd and out of proportion, amplifying their failures and faults and exposing the truth of modern life. This is a wonderful collection." -- Michael Melgaard, author of Pallbearing
"Uncanny in their capture of the anxiety of our times, these stories buzz with urgency, sting with humour, and probe a beguiling dream state: the absurdity and audacity of being human." -- Nancy Lee, author of VanCity Book Prize winner The Age
"Evans is adept at identifying the disconnect that exists between reality and people's individual perceptions of their world ... Evans builds his entertaining stories upon a mixture of relatable ordinary life experiences and his characters' personal viewpoints. This draws in readers as the stories in Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth reflect our lives and the crazy world around us." -- Winnipeg Free Press
"Evans excels at succinct portraiture, saying a lot with a little in brief, intriguingly premised stories ... A refreshingly different debut collection from a writer to watch." -- Library Journal
"In his relentlessly entertaining debut collection, Christopher Evans presents a series of arch depictions of what it means to be imperfectly human and vulnerable in a troubling and troublesome modern world." -- Miramichi Reader
"The stories of Christopher Evans's accomplished first book read as confident and effortless; they're assured and mature, as though sprung fully-formed from the proverbial shell ... Presented by a surefooted writer, the gallery of characters in Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth fascinates. Under Evans's capable hands squabbling couples, disgruntled teens, and lovers with stricken hearts command attention as they reach and stumble and reach once again for happiness, contentment, love, or an untroubled sense that everything is running smoothly at last." -- Ormsby Review
"This is a wonderful collection from a sure-footed writer with a great ear for dialogue. Meticulously observed, the stories illustrate how ordinary life often thrums with mysterious, elusive truths just waiting to be grasped, if only we are brave enough." -- Foreword Reviews
