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Crimes Against My Brother

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Paperback
$21.00 US
5.44"W x 8.18"H x 1.09"D   (13.8 x 20.8 x 2.8 cm) | 14 oz (390 g) | 24 per carton
On sale Sep 08, 2015 | 416 Pages | 9780385671187
Sales rights: Canada and Open Mkt
"Crimes Against My Brother takes us through a long series of petty betrayals, crushing heartbreaks, loneliness and death. . . . David Adams Richards has again proven his mastery." —National Post

     Harold, Evan and Ian are inseparable as boys—so much so that one night, abandoned in the forest by the careless adults around them, and raging against society and the uncaring gods others worship, they seal their undying brotherhood with a blood bond. But soon after, a horrific accident scars each of them in a different way, testing their bonds and leaving each with a debt to be paid. As adults, seeking to rise above debt and advance in life, each man decides upon a very different path—but over time, all three discover they are tied to each other in intricately tangled, sometimes violent, and surprising ways that none of them has been wise enough to foresee.
     In Crimes Against My Brother, literary legend David Adams Richards is at his finest, reprising some of his most complex and beloved characters (such as Sydney Henderson from Mercy Among the Children), introducing unforgettable new ones (such as the beautiful but fatally foolish Annette Brideau; and the wily, charming, money-hungry manipulator Lonnie Sullivan), and weaving a tale of such force, gravitas, complexity, universality, and compassionate understanding that he reaffirms his status as a master storyteller who has, book by book, used his rare genius to create an entire, teeming universe alongside a river in a small northern part of the world.

"Tragedy and cruelty are rife in the fictional universe of David Adams Richards, one of Canada's most prolific and gifted writers. . . . Richards' true interest is not in the terrible things we all do, but rather the ways in which we struggle to live with the consequences. . . . Crimes Against My Brother is grandly ambitious and beautifully written. . .an astute, compelling and compassionate exploration of the human spirit." —Toronto Star

"Richards weaves a complex, heartbreaking tale. . . . New readers will find it a powerful introduction to his work." —Winnipeg Free Press

"Crimes Against My Brother takes us through a long series of petty betrayals, crushing heartbreaks, loneliness and death. . . . David Adams Richards has again proven his mastery." —National Post

"David Adams Richards is the Feodor Dostoyevsky of Canadian fiction, a comparison that honours both the moral stance of his writing and its distance from the literary mores of Toronto and Vancouver. . . . [in Crimes Against My Brother], his writing remains brutally stark and disturbingly effective." —Georgia Straight

© Bruce Peters
Born in 1950 in Newcastle, New Brunswick, David Adams Richards was the third of William and Margaret Richards' six children. He found his calling at the age of fourteen, after reading Oliver Twist, and embarked on a life of extraordinary purpose, one which he says didn't help his finances: "Sometimes . . . I thought it would be better if I were a plumber, but I wouldn't be very good."

At the age of twenty and after finishing his first novel, The Keeping of Gusties, Richards went in search of a community of writers. His quest ended when he met a group of academics at the University of New Brunswick. Richards would hitch-hike from his home in Newcastle to Fredericton every Tuesday night to meet with them and read from his work. The literary evenings were held on campus at McCourt Hall, in an outbuilding formally used to store ice. The group quickly became known as the Ice House Gang. There he received encouragement from established writers, including the late Alden Nowlan, whom he names as important influences along with Faulkner, Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Emily Brontë. It was during his time with these writers that Richards wrote two-thirds of his second novel, The Coming of Winter, which was published by Oberon Press in 1974.

In 1971, Richards married Peggy McIntyre. They spent the first years of their marriage travelling throughout Canada, Europe and Australia. It was on these long sojourns away from the Mirimachi that Richards found he could write about the home he loved, regardless of where he lived. As he continued to write, Richards took postings as writer-in-residence at universities in New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1997, they moved to Toronto with their sons John Thomas and Anton.

The Miramichi region has continued as the heart of Richards' fiction throughout his career. As he explained in an interview with January Magazine, his connection to the area and to the rural lives of its inhabitants is central to his fiction, yet does not reflect a limited scope: "It's very important, because the characters come from the soil. They're like the trees, in a certain respect. They cling to that river and that soil, but as Jack Hodgins once said about my writing—which was one of the kindest things any writer has said about my writing—he said: 'David, you aren't writing about the Miramichi Valley, you're writing about Campbell River where I come from. Because every character you talk about is a character I've met here in Campbell River.' And that's basically what I'm doing. Of course my people are Miramichi. Of course they come from the fabric and the soil of the Miramichi but if that was the only thing that was interesting about them, I wouldn't bother writing about them."

The relocation to Toronto was not without its difficulties, though. As Richards documented in the memoir Lines on the Water, he loves fly-fishing on the Miramichi River. Yet once he was no longer a resident, he was unable to get a fishing licence for the region. Thankfully, said Richards, the local government proclaimed him an "honorary Miramichier"—"So I can go fishing. It was very nice of them and very touching." He has also written a non-fiction book on the place of hockey in the Canadian soul, called Hockey Dreams.

Richards has received numerous awards and prizes throughout his career. Most notably, he is one of few writers in the history of the Governor General's Literary Awards to win in both the fiction (Nights Below Station Street) and non-fiction (Lines on the Water) categories. In addition to these two wins, he was nominated for Road to the Stilt House (in 1985), For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down (in 1993) and Mercy Among the Children (in 2000). Considered by many to be Richards' most accomplished novel, Mercy was co-winner of the Giller Award in 2000, and was shortlisted for the Trillium Award and the Thomas Raddell Award. It also won the Canadian Booksellers Association author of the year and fiction book of the year awards. Over the years, Richards has also won countless regional awards for his novels and was awarded the prestigious Canada-Australia Literary Prize in 1992. More recently, The Lost Highway was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and The Friends of Meagre Fortune won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. 

Despite all of these successes, it was years before Richards made money at writing. He laughs at the sales of his early work: "For a long while if I sold 200 books, I'd be saying: Oh, great! And, you know, a $50 advance! That's great. I only worked three years, I don't know if I can spend $50."

Also a screenwriter, Richards has adapted a number of his novels for the small screen. In 1990, he adapted his novel Nights Below Station Street, and in 1994 he penned the teleplay "Small Gifts," for which he won his first Gemini. He won his second for his screen adaptation of For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down, and later co-wrote the screenplay for The Bay of Love and Sorrows, released as a feature film in 2002.

In addition to his novels and non-fiction books, Richards' short stories and articles have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. His literary papers were acquired in 1994 by the University of New Brunswick. View titles by David Adams Richards
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About

"Crimes Against My Brother takes us through a long series of petty betrayals, crushing heartbreaks, loneliness and death. . . . David Adams Richards has again proven his mastery." —National Post

     Harold, Evan and Ian are inseparable as boys—so much so that one night, abandoned in the forest by the careless adults around them, and raging against society and the uncaring gods others worship, they seal their undying brotherhood with a blood bond. But soon after, a horrific accident scars each of them in a different way, testing their bonds and leaving each with a debt to be paid. As adults, seeking to rise above debt and advance in life, each man decides upon a very different path—but over time, all three discover they are tied to each other in intricately tangled, sometimes violent, and surprising ways that none of them has been wise enough to foresee.
     In Crimes Against My Brother, literary legend David Adams Richards is at his finest, reprising some of his most complex and beloved characters (such as Sydney Henderson from Mercy Among the Children), introducing unforgettable new ones (such as the beautiful but fatally foolish Annette Brideau; and the wily, charming, money-hungry manipulator Lonnie Sullivan), and weaving a tale of such force, gravitas, complexity, universality, and compassionate understanding that he reaffirms his status as a master storyteller who has, book by book, used his rare genius to create an entire, teeming universe alongside a river in a small northern part of the world.

Praise

"Tragedy and cruelty are rife in the fictional universe of David Adams Richards, one of Canada's most prolific and gifted writers. . . . Richards' true interest is not in the terrible things we all do, but rather the ways in which we struggle to live with the consequences. . . . Crimes Against My Brother is grandly ambitious and beautifully written. . .an astute, compelling and compassionate exploration of the human spirit." —Toronto Star

"Richards weaves a complex, heartbreaking tale. . . . New readers will find it a powerful introduction to his work." —Winnipeg Free Press

"Crimes Against My Brother takes us through a long series of petty betrayals, crushing heartbreaks, loneliness and death. . . . David Adams Richards has again proven his mastery." —National Post

"David Adams Richards is the Feodor Dostoyevsky of Canadian fiction, a comparison that honours both the moral stance of his writing and its distance from the literary mores of Toronto and Vancouver. . . . [in Crimes Against My Brother], his writing remains brutally stark and disturbingly effective." —Georgia Straight

Author

© Bruce Peters
Born in 1950 in Newcastle, New Brunswick, David Adams Richards was the third of William and Margaret Richards' six children. He found his calling at the age of fourteen, after reading Oliver Twist, and embarked on a life of extraordinary purpose, one which he says didn't help his finances: "Sometimes . . . I thought it would be better if I were a plumber, but I wouldn't be very good."

At the age of twenty and after finishing his first novel, The Keeping of Gusties, Richards went in search of a community of writers. His quest ended when he met a group of academics at the University of New Brunswick. Richards would hitch-hike from his home in Newcastle to Fredericton every Tuesday night to meet with them and read from his work. The literary evenings were held on campus at McCourt Hall, in an outbuilding formally used to store ice. The group quickly became known as the Ice House Gang. There he received encouragement from established writers, including the late Alden Nowlan, whom he names as important influences along with Faulkner, Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Emily Brontë. It was during his time with these writers that Richards wrote two-thirds of his second novel, The Coming of Winter, which was published by Oberon Press in 1974.

In 1971, Richards married Peggy McIntyre. They spent the first years of their marriage travelling throughout Canada, Europe and Australia. It was on these long sojourns away from the Mirimachi that Richards found he could write about the home he loved, regardless of where he lived. As he continued to write, Richards took postings as writer-in-residence at universities in New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1997, they moved to Toronto with their sons John Thomas and Anton.

The Miramichi region has continued as the heart of Richards' fiction throughout his career. As he explained in an interview with January Magazine, his connection to the area and to the rural lives of its inhabitants is central to his fiction, yet does not reflect a limited scope: "It's very important, because the characters come from the soil. They're like the trees, in a certain respect. They cling to that river and that soil, but as Jack Hodgins once said about my writing—which was one of the kindest things any writer has said about my writing—he said: 'David, you aren't writing about the Miramichi Valley, you're writing about Campbell River where I come from. Because every character you talk about is a character I've met here in Campbell River.' And that's basically what I'm doing. Of course my people are Miramichi. Of course they come from the fabric and the soil of the Miramichi but if that was the only thing that was interesting about them, I wouldn't bother writing about them."

The relocation to Toronto was not without its difficulties, though. As Richards documented in the memoir Lines on the Water, he loves fly-fishing on the Miramichi River. Yet once he was no longer a resident, he was unable to get a fishing licence for the region. Thankfully, said Richards, the local government proclaimed him an "honorary Miramichier"—"So I can go fishing. It was very nice of them and very touching." He has also written a non-fiction book on the place of hockey in the Canadian soul, called Hockey Dreams.

Richards has received numerous awards and prizes throughout his career. Most notably, he is one of few writers in the history of the Governor General's Literary Awards to win in both the fiction (Nights Below Station Street) and non-fiction (Lines on the Water) categories. In addition to these two wins, he was nominated for Road to the Stilt House (in 1985), For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down (in 1993) and Mercy Among the Children (in 2000). Considered by many to be Richards' most accomplished novel, Mercy was co-winner of the Giller Award in 2000, and was shortlisted for the Trillium Award and the Thomas Raddell Award. It also won the Canadian Booksellers Association author of the year and fiction book of the year awards. Over the years, Richards has also won countless regional awards for his novels and was awarded the prestigious Canada-Australia Literary Prize in 1992. More recently, The Lost Highway was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and The Friends of Meagre Fortune won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. 

Despite all of these successes, it was years before Richards made money at writing. He laughs at the sales of his early work: "For a long while if I sold 200 books, I'd be saying: Oh, great! And, you know, a $50 advance! That's great. I only worked three years, I don't know if I can spend $50."

Also a screenwriter, Richards has adapted a number of his novels for the small screen. In 1990, he adapted his novel Nights Below Station Street, and in 1994 he penned the teleplay "Small Gifts," for which he won his first Gemini. He won his second for his screen adaptation of For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down, and later co-wrote the screenplay for The Bay of Love and Sorrows, released as a feature film in 2002.

In addition to his novels and non-fiction books, Richards' short stories and articles have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. His literary papers were acquired in 1994 by the University of New Brunswick. View titles by David Adams Richards

Rights

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Available for sale non-exclusive:
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•     Antarctica
•     Argentina
•     Armenia
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•     Austria
•     Azerbaijan
•     Bahrain
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•     Liberia
•     Libya
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•     Madagascar
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•     Romania
•     Russian Fed.
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•     Senegal
•     Serbia
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•     Sint Maarten
•     Slovakia
•     Slovenia
•     South Korea
•     South Sudan
•     Spain
•     St Barthelemy
•     St.Pier,Miquel.
•     Sth Terr. Franc
•     Sudan
•     Suriname
•     Svalbard
•     Sweden
•     Switzerland
•     Syria
•     Tadschikistan
•     Taiwan
•     Thailand
•     Timor-Leste
•     Togo
•     Tokelau Islands
•     Tunisia
•     Turkey
•     Turkmenistan
•     Ukraine
•     Unit.Arab Emir.
•     Uruguay
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•     Vatican City
•     Venezuela
•     Vietnam
•     Wallis,Futuna
•     West Saharan
•     Western Samoa
•     Yemen

Not available for sale:
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