A dark novel centred around an obsessive-compulsive young Vancouver
man, Daniel struggles to maintain his own fragile sanity while those
around him fall apart. Also an activist, Demers skillfully weaves in
lesbian parenting and free-speech arguments, aging activists and
neighbourhood politics, seeming sincere and not forced—the way
politics entwine our real lives. Demers’ Vancouver settings are
evocative without the pretensions of neighbours like Douglas Coupland.
His sharp writing recalls other Canadian authors—the wry humour of
Mark Anthony Jarman and Lynn Coady comes to mind, and an early party
scene in the novel bears odd similarities to an updated, male-penned
version of The Edible Woman. It’s refreshing to read a book by a
writer under 30 who seems like a grown-up.
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.