This is the first full-length study of the short stories and novels by Clark Blaise. It follows his development as a deeply self-conscious writer who becomes involved in the dualities of the world around him—dualities that are reflected in the structure of his fiction and in the narrative strategies he employs to convey an image of himself. Lecker frames his discussion with an opening chapter that provides a detailed discussion of Blaise's aesthetic stance. Subsequent chapters focus on Blaise's first two short-story collections and on readings of Blaise's two novels. The study includes an original chronology by Clark Blaise, which provides a creative rendering of the important dates and turning points in his life and literary career.

Robert Lecker is Greenshields Professor of English at McGill University. He is the editor of several anthologies, most recently Open Country: Canadian Literature in English, and the author of numerous books and articles, including On the Line, Robert Kroetsch, Another I, Making It Real, Dr. Delicious, The Cadence of Civil Elegies, and Keepers of the Code.

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“Lecker has produced a polished, fascinating reading that foregrounds significant issues not only in Blaise's work but also on the theoretical plane.”  —Letters in Canada

“Lecker tackles Blaise's unattractiveness head on, giving us ways of valuing them, beginning gently to reconcile us to the necessity and the larger importance of what seems at first glance only an unremitting egoism in Blaise's prose, showing us what fine art results.”  —Matrix

“This book has definite value, being the most comprehensive study of his writing to date and containing a bibliography of other writing about Blaise.”  —Canadian Materials

“A fine analysis . . . challenging and original thesis . . . Robert Lecker has contributed valuable insights into Clark Blaise's fiction.”  —English Studies in Canada