This classic Coach House 'big little' book, small enough for pocket or purse, pleasing to the hand and eye, and long beloved by connoisseurs of Canadian letters, is once again available to an entirely new generation of readers, thanks to the CHB reprints program. Follow Canadian hero Rick Wayne (through the words of poet David McFadden and the drawings of Greg Curnoe) as he moves sideways to grapple with the Big Questions. Fine literature will triumph in the end!

David W. McFadden has been publishing poetry since the early 1960s. Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden (Insomniac Press) was shortlisted for the 2008 Canadian Griffin Prize for Poetry, and Be Calm, Honey (Mansfield Press) was shortlisted for the 2009 Governor General’s Award for Poetry (his third such nomination). In 2013, McFadden won the Canadian Griffin Prize for Poetry for What’s the Score? (Mansfield Press). He is the author of about 30 books of poetry, fiction, and travel writing. McFadden lives in Toronto.

David McFadden's profile page

Greg Curnoe was born in London, Ontario, and attended the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. Following the influence of Dada, he, along with other artists, rejected much of established culture and founded the Nihilist Party in 1962. He is the author, with David McFadden, of The Great Canadian Sonnet (Coach House Books, 2001), but is perhaps best known for his paintings, in which he incorporates captions into his images. He was a founder of the Nihilist Spasm Band, the Forest City Gallery, and Region magazine.

Greg Curnoe's profile page