Our protagonist here is Jacob, an anglophone Montrealer immersed in a complicated loneliness of the soul. He is surrounded by empty friendships, unrequited passions, undue antagonisms, and even a fatal attraction. There is deft observation and much emotion. This may all sound excessively cluttered, but Yanofsky's prose is capable of handling the action.

Joel Yanofsky has worked as a literary journalist, book reviewer and freelance writer since 1983. He has interviewed and profiled dozens of authors, from Margaret Atwood to John Updike. He has been a columnist for The Montreal Gazette, and his humour columns have appeared in MTL magazine, MENZ, Books in Canada and The Gazette. He's also written for The Village Voice, Chatelaine, Reader's Digest, TV Guide, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. He has been nominated for two Quebec Magazine awards. His autobiographical novel Jacob's Ladder was published in 1997, his memoir Mordecai and Me in 2003, and his memoir Bad Animals in 2011.

Joel Yanofsky's profile page

• Short-listed, Grand prix du livre de Montréal
• Short-listed, Prix Parizeau

'Yanofsky cuts and pastes these eccentric lives together in a charming and detached way. He never lets the zaniness get too cute or sentimental, not an easy task with so many maniacs on board. As Jacob says, ''everyone I know is crazy. Absolutely nuts. ... I don't believe they are out to get me any more. I just believe they are out to confuse me.'' '

The Globe & Mail