From celebrated Toronto poet, Domenico Capilongo, comes a collection of powerful and humorous stories inspired by love: the love of family and tradition, the passion shared between two people when love is found, and the impact felt when it is misunderstood and lost. These stories travel the globe from Toronto to Vancouver, WWII Sicily, Rome, Japan, Thailand, and even the gardens of Paris. Capilongo succeeds in capturing the beat of relationships in their many stages of complicated development. His debut short fiction collection shows the keen eye of a writer who is not afraid to reveal the inner workings of love.
I was born with bushy eyebrows. My baby pictures scare me. I look like some kind of Muppet alien. My father wanted to shave them off, embarrassed of what his brothers would say. I grew into them, eventually.
Capilongo's stories have a directness and candour that goes straight to the heart, never sentimental but always rich with emotion and with the texture of real life.
Nino Ricci
These short stories, striking in their immediacy and sensory detail, touch on both the everyday and the pivotal moments that define a life. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, they capture the fragility and unpredictability of human experience.
Shari Lapena (Author of Historical Economies, shortlisted for the 2012 Stephen Leacock Medal)