Alternating between the loveable irascibility and self-mocking humor reminiscent of the poet Cold Mountain (Han Shan), Budbill's poems view the modern world from the viewpoint of a New England hermit-scholar. Remarkable for their generous spirit, accessibility and biting criticism, these poems present a poet of strong mind and voice.

"There are three things about this planet which are too wonderful for me. Make that four things. The way of dreams in the mind; the way of tears in the eye; the way of words in the mouth; and the way of my wife Edna Bradshaw when she acts like a cat and love-nibbles me into her arms." This is the voice of Desi, the hero of Robert Olen Butler's novel Mr. Spaceman, who has kept a quiet vigil above the Earth for decades while studying the confusing,...

In Cuba, Castro has finally relinquished power. . . . now a mysterious exile (Che Guevara?) returns to finish the revolution. When a strange man appears in rural towns around Cuba quietly advocating a new kind of politics he calls "the True Republic," old-timers begin to suspect that the elderly stranger, who calls himself Ernesto Blanco, may actually be the martyr Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Shortly after Blanco's appearance, Fidel Castro steps down...

Recently widowed Mattie Blue recalls her life with her beloved husband, Nick.

Wayne Johnston combines brilliant storytelling with unforgettable description, and gives us two of the most memorable characters in Canadian fiction: Joe Smallwood, who claws his way from obscurity to become Newfoundland's first premier; and Sheilagh Fielding, a popular newspaper columnist and gifted satirist who casts a haunting shadow over Smallwood's life and career. A mystery and a love story spanning five decades, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams...