The Antagonist
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$15.95
Published on Oct 08, 2013 | 304 Pages
Published on Oct 08, 2013 | 304 Pages
A piercing epistolary novel, The Antagonist explores, with wit and compassion, how the impressions of others shape, pervert, and flummox both our perceptions of ourselves and our very nature.
Gordon Rankin Jr., aka “Rank,” thinks of himself as “King Midas in reverse”—and indeed misfortune seems to follow him at every turn. Against his will and his nature, he has long been considered—given his enormous size and strength—a goon and enforcer by his classmates, by his hockey coaches, and, not least, by his “tiny, angry” father. He gamely lives up to their expectations, until a vicious twist of fate forces him to flee underground. Now pushing forty, he discovers that an old, trusted friend from his college days has published a novel that borrows freely from the traumatic events of Rank’s own life. Outraged by this betrayal and feeling cruelly misrepresented, he bashes out his own version of his story in a barrage of e-mails to the novelist that range from funny to furious to heartbreaking.
With The Antagonist, Lynn Coady demonstrates all of the gifts that have made her one of Canada’s most respected young writers. Here she gives us an astonishing story of sons and fathers and mothers, of the rewards and betrayals of male friendship, and a large-spirited, hilarious, and exhilarating portrait of a man tearing his life apart in order to put himself back together.
Author
Lynn Coady
LYNN COADY is a Canadian novelist, journalist, and TV writer, originally from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and now living in Toronto. She has published six books of fiction, including the collection of short stories Hellgoing, which won the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the novel, The Antagonist, short-listed for the 2011 Giller Prize.Since 2014 she has worked on the TV series Orphan Black, Sensitive Skin, Michael: Every Day, Mary Kills People, and The Disappearance, among others.
Learn More about Lynn Coady