HARD SURFACE: IN SEARCH OF THE CANADIAN ROAD is a provocative and original investigation of the highways, byways, and back roads that make this country possible. Lyrical, informative, and slyly funny, Hard Surface takes a refreshing look at what we encounter every day of our lives: the road, with its promise of freedom and individuality. Whether following the road to paradise or the road to Placentia, Newfoundland, Hard Surface journeys through our country's past and present, celebrating our search for meaning, nationhood, and a decent twelve-inch hot dog. As the first full-length examination of the Canadian road, Hard Surface takes the reader on an unforgettable ride that suggests the true value of the Canadian road is not the transportation of goods and cargo, but the quest for ourselves, and the irrepressible urge to spread our stories across a vast and complex land.

Peter Unwin was born in Sheffield, England, and raised in Southern Ontario. He studied at Carleton University in Ottawa. His fiction includes the short story collection The Rock Farmers, which was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and the novel Nine Bells for a Man. His non-fiction includes The Wolf’s Head: Writing Lake Superior and Hard Surface: In Search of the Canadian Road. He has travelled extensively in the Canadian north. Currently, he is a Master’s candidate in Culture and Communications at York and Ryerson universities. An avid practitioner of martial arts, baseball, and literature, he lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters.

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