DNF (never got round to it, too busy now)

I listened to this book which was read by the author himself. He didn't do a bad job but he wasn't the best narrator I've ever heard. I really liked Alexis' book Fifteen Dogs so I was looking forward to this book but it didn't grab me like Fifteen Dogs did. Maybe magical realism (which is not my favourite genre anyway) doesn't come across as well on audio as on a printed page.

Alfie Homer is a botanist who recently broke up with his long time girlfriend. His parents died in a car crash a year ago so when his parents' friend Dr. Morgan Bruno asks him to drive him on a road trip around southern Ontario Alfie thinks it's the distraction he needs. Dr. Bruno is on the trail of a mysterious poet, John Skennen, who disappeared over 20 years ago. While they follow the trail Skennen laid down long ago through numerous small towns they encounter quirky festivals and museums such as the house raising and burning festival in Nobleton. Each year a house is built and a poor family is allowed to move in but the following year that house is set on fire; if the family that lives in it can put the fire out before it consumes the house they get to live in it for another year. In each town Dr. Bruno interviews people who knew Skennen; some people think he is dead but others insist he is alive and one man even says he sees him regularly. Eventually they end up in a town called Feversham where there are more religious leaders living than in the Vatican City. Alfie has a mystical experience there and emerges changed.

This book won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2019. Obviously other people liked it more than I did. ( )

DNF - apparently this book is not for me (I found it slightly boring) but I will attempt to pick it back up at a later date.

I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Alfred Homer has been asked to accompany a family friend to search southern Ontario for a poet who has not been heard of for some time. They pass through towns with some bizarre customs. The result is a ribald, weird, darkly funny story of their travels. It's to be expected that an Ontarian odyssey featuring someone named Homer will form a highly imaginative work. Not only is Homer quirky but the people they meet are at the top end of the offbeat register.

"Days by Moonlight is not a work of realism. It's not a work that uses the imagination to show the real, but one that uses the real to show the imagination." -- André Alexis ( )

An interesting book that defies expectations. Ostensibly the story of a road trip across Southern Ontario in path of a poet; but also so many other things. It’s frequently hilarious and ridiculous (in a good way), but also wise and touching and careful. It’s not always believable but not exactly magical realism either. It’s more about imagination and wonder, and it’s maybe at its best when it was wandering from the path of realism. A puzzling book in some ways but always an intriguing one. This is another piece of Andre Alexis’ quincunx that stands alone and also rises higher as a piece of the larger work. If you’ve liked any of Alexis’ other work this is certainly recommended. ( )