John Degen is the author of two books of poetry: Killing Things and
Animal Life in Bucharest. He has published work in Taddle
Creek, blood + aphorisms, The Fiddlehead, Queen Street Quarterly
and The Walrus, and is a frequent reviewer for THIS Magazine. Degen
is Executive Director of the Professional Writers Association of
Canada. He lives in Toronto.
"John Degen has hovered above us, plucked the world free of its
myths and assembled them here. The Uninvited Guest is a delicate
and assured investigation of the moments when we cross over into
love and into death. Degen finds us when we are mortal, when we are
brave, when we are victorious, when we are alone, and when we have
that most tenuous of prizes: a sense of belonging. His unlikely
divining rod: a hockey trophy. Making heroes of some and monks of
others, Degen has made a home for them all. It is a home lighted by
the sharp-edged human truths that soar through and plunder us - in
their articulation, reminding us, gently, clearly, of the lives
that could have been ours."
- Claudia Dey, author of Trout Stanley and The Gwendolyn Poems
"The writing is very simple, crisp and direct... The real strength
lies in the structure Degen has employed and its ability to deliver
on the overall theme of the book... [S]atisfying and resonant...
John Degen has written a very fine book--rarely is an uninvited
guest so enjoyable."
- Steven Galloway, The Globe and Mail
From the jury of the Books in Canada First Novel Award:
"If you could imagine Milan Kundera without attitude or arrogance,
you'd be close. I'd remember this novel, if for nothing else, for
the description of a Russian hockey star scoring a goal -- a moment
of grace and insight, as far from Cherry cobbler as one could
imagine. There are many such moments."
-Sean Virgo
"Degen leaps and twists deftly with his narrative line to highlight
the differing meanings a game can have in Canada and in a
repressive regime..."
-Mary Dalton
"Degen has elevated endless esoteric minutiae of 'the Canadian
sport' into the stuff of fine narrative... echoes of Vonnegut with
a hint of Damon Runyon, or Hugh Garner at his best, if he'd paid
more attention to hockey."
-John Moss
"Who knew that the Stanley Cup's visit to a winning player's home
town could turn into a look at the impact of the Cold War on
gamesmanship and survival? John Degen, that's who. The Uninvited
Guest should have a wide readership. There's lots to talk about in
its clever pages."
-Val Ross
"With entrancing storytelling, where even minor characters have
depth, Degen pulls off a wild conceit linking our national game
with Romaninan backgammon, amid lively lessons about bravery, risk,
and luck."
--Nancy Wigston, Books in Canada
"I enjoyed this book because I've lived the inside story. The
Uninvited Guest offers a fictional and philosophical lens on a wide
range of subjects from the lives of professional hockey players to
the keepers of the Cup to Eastern European history to storytelling,
and blurs the whole spectrum together in a finale full of love,
community and companionship."
- Igor Larionov, three-time winner of the Stanley Cup
"Direct, deceptively easy-to-follow, and colourful writing. And
along-the-way insights into Canada's national game, as well as
Romania's national game... are terrifically entertaining for
aficionados of either."
- Eric McMillan, Mid-Town Crier
"Hockey, totalitarianism, and Scandinavian prostitutes �- what
more could one possibly ask for in a novel? John Degen's The
Uninvited Guest begins with a hilarious wink at the conceits of
historical fiction, and uses the parallel reality it generates as
the occasion for an exploration of love and loss, success and
failure, and what it means to covet something. Degen is that rarest
of Canadian writers, a poet-turned-novelist with confidence in his
skill and trust in his readers. The text breathes, the story tells
itself, and Degen is firmly in control. I read this book straight
through in one sitting."
- Andrew Potter, sports columnist
"If you're fed up with the Stanley Cup residing in the southern US,
read John Degen's novel The Uninvited Guest. He blends hockey, sex
and a Romanian wedding in this absurdly hilarious book."
- Matthew Firth, Ottawa XPress
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