Following a stranger hoping he’s a long-lost friend, breaking into a relative’s home to retrieve your antidepressants, planning to get pregnant, getting pregnant, and trying to tell your husband you don’t want the baby, waiting all evening for your wife to compliment your appearance, running a social experiment and getting blamed when a woman gets hit by a car, getting fired after you’re caught with your pants down at work – all stories involve Anthony, a sensitive, insecure, mentally ill young man and aspiring filmmaker. The collection explores his experiences as he tries to cope with and overcome the fears driven by his obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, and clinical depression.

Shayne McGreal was born and raised in Hamilton (Dundas), Ontario and currently lives in Toronto with his wife and son. He tends to write about mental illness, masculinity, and violence, focusing on characters who are insecure, full of doubt, and desperate to control themselves and their surroundings. In addition to being a writer, Shayne works in post-production in the film and tv industry. Anthony: A Composite Novel is his first book.

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