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Fiction Literary

Kaspoit!

by (author) Dennis E. Bolen

Publisher
Anvil Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2009
Category
Literary
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781897535059
    Publish Date
    Oct 2009
    List Price
    $20
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781927380772
    Publish Date
    Jul 2012
    List Price
    $14.99

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Description

'Kaspoit!' is a novel of our times, told in the language of our times. It's set in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver. The time is now and gangland crime is rampant. Seemingly random murders and takedowns are exploding at a disturbing rate. Criminals are brazen, the cops are jaded, and someone is trying to lay the blame for the disappearance of dozens of women on the head of one man. Shakespearean in its intricacies of plotting and resplendence of vivid characters, the story puts speculative illustration to some of the most brutal Western Canada crimes of the recent past. The story is told almost entirely in dialogue, the scant narrative passages are brief and poetic, written in an invented form of imagistic neologisms. This mode of prose transmits the action at an accelerated, psychologically penetrating pace that hurls the reader through the varied and complicated scenes with a velocity not seen in standard fiction.

"... After William Pickton was arrested, media and activist groups had a field day speculating about why women were going missing from the Downtown Eastside for years before the Vancouver Police or RCMP appeared to notice. That's the question Bolen tries to answer in Kaspoit! It's a novel about perception and agendas, about how what we see, and what we think we know, are determined by what we're looking for. ... Bolen's stripped-to-the-frame, dialogue-driven story will be as shocking to CanLit-conditioned sensibilities as a slap in the face with a bag ofcold nails." - BC BookWorld

" 'Kaspoit!' is either a sublime literary work of near genius or is one of the most wretched wallows in the dark mire of the soul ever published. ... Reader beware, 'Kaspoit!' is not for the easily upset, but, if you can handle it, you'll soon realize you're reading a work of stark brilliance. ... The story itself is so compelling that the reader returns to the book, though repelled by it. Finally, the conspiracy it posits is startling compared to the vague news coverage that the infamous pig farm case received." - Victoria Times Colonist

"A tour de force of thug-life horror, the book is a fictionalized account of what might have gone on at a certain Port Coquitlam pig farm where the DNA of 32 women was found during a massive forensic investigation. If you've ever felt that the publication ban on Robert Pickton's speedy trial and conviction smelled strongly of cover-up, this is for you." - The Georgia Straight

About the author

Dennis E. Bolen is a novelist, editor, teacher and journalist, first published in 1975 (Canadian Fiction Magazine). He holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria (1977) and an MFA (Writing) from the University of British Columbia (1989), and taught Introductory Creative Writing at UBC from 1995 to 1997.

In 1989 Mr. Bolen helped establish the international literary journal subTerrain, and served there as fiction editor for ten years. He has acted as a community editorial board member at the Vancouver Sun and sat on the boards of a literacy advocacy organization, a literary collective and a theatre company. He has written criticism, social commentary, arts advocacy and editorial opinion for numerous journals and newspapers in Canada.

Dennis E. Bolen's profile page

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