The Men’s Breakfast — 19 New Stories from Cape Breton Island

edited by Ronald Caplan • 176 pages

HAPPY DISCOVERIES, OR ALREADY FAMOUS—19 writers really worth reading!
    Short stories by D.C. Troicuk, Frank Macdonald, Bill Conall, Larry Gibbons, Teresa O’Brien. Portions from novels-in-progress by Maureen Hull, Brian Tucker, and Stewart Donovan. Life-inspired moments by Dave Doucette and Mary Steele.
    In a shocking scene that turns on a breath, Joyce Rankin trumpets a woman’s rise to protect her children. Phonse Jessome pulls off the tough-guy bravado of the best crime writing. Angus MacDougall serves up a comedy of good eating!
    Fragile magic is delivered by RussellColman and Tim Vassallo, and remarkable brute force is masterfully carved by Victor Sakalauskas and Paul MacDougall.
    There are touching and comic word portraits: Nancy S.M. Waldman's teenage youth caring for a disabled woman, or Julie Curwin's pack of kooky apartment-dwellers on a road trip to a funeral.
    Sharp wit and compassionate insight abound!
Excerpts from The Men's Breakfast:
    Phonse Jessome: "I jammed the shifter into park and knew it was murder before I killed the engine. One glance through the windshield told me that. Every cop has that vibe, that extra energy that comes with the big show. No one takes the oath to hand out parking tickets or lock up drunks. Catching killers, that's what the badge is really about."
    Joyce Rankin: "I take a lot of trouble to make beautiful plats of food, and I like to send them out looking pretty. Sunnyside eggs are my favourite. With their gleaming yolks yellow and round as the sun and their clean and perfect whites, they are simple and fresh and honest. Eggs over easy are subtle, neat and self-contained. Scrambled eggs are pretty and frothy and wholesome, like a little girl's Easter dress."