Shortlisted for the 2007 Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award

"Satisfying and resonant... John Degen has written a very fine book—rarely is an uninvited guest so enjoyable."
— Steven Galloway, The Globe and Mail

"The Uninvited Guest offers a fictional and philosophical lens on a wide range of subjects from the lives of professional hockey players to the keepers of the Cup to Eastern European history to storytelling, and blurs the whole spectrum together in a finale full of love, community and companionship."
— Igor Larionov, three-time winner of the Stanley Cup

Some people win games. Some achieve success. But when it comes right down to it, most people don't. Failure is a guest no one invites, yet it shows up almost everywhere. The gifts it brings are easy to overlook.

The Uninvited Guest is a whirlwind ride featuring Romanian hockey superstars growing up in Montreal, Danish prostitutes working in Sweden, Russian mobsters, the perils of parking in Penitanguishene, and how not to die if you want to make it home on time.

Most of all, it's the story of Stan Cooper, hockey timekeeper/custodian-turned-trophy-keeper; Tony, a young Italian Canadian man and new Cup keeper; and Dragos Petrescu, the first Romanian-born hockey player to win the Stanley Cup. Over a period of 50 years, the lives of the three men weave in and out of each other, with themes of love, hate, family, jealousy and ultimately, forgiveness.

John Degen is the author of two books of poetry: Killing Things and Animal Life in Bucharest. He has published work in Taddle
Creek, blood + aphorisms, The Fiddlehead, Queen Street Quarterly and The Walrus, and is a frequent reviewer for THIS Magazine. Degen is Executive Director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada. He lives in Toronto.

John Degen's profile page

• Short-listed, Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award

"Hockey, totalitarianism, and Scandinavian prostitutes �- what more could one possibly ask for in a novel? John Degen's The Uninvited Guest begins with a hilarious wink at the conceits of historical fiction, and uses the parallel reality it generates as the occasion for an exploration of love and loss, success and failure, and what it means to covet something. Degen is that rarest of Canadian writers, a poet-turned-novelist with confidence in his skill and trust in his readers. The text breathes, the story tells itself, and Degen is firmly in control. I read this book straight through in one sitting."

Andrew Potter, sports columnist

From the jury of the Books in Canada First Novel Award:

"If you could imagine Milan Kundera without attitude or arrogance, you'd be close. I'd remember this novel, if for nothing else, for the description of a Russian hockey star scoring a goal—a moment of grace and insight, as far from Cherry cobbler as one could imagine. There are many such moments."
—Sean Virgo

"Degen leaps and twists deftly with his narrative line to highlight the differing meanings a game can have in Canada and in a repressive regime..."
—Mary Dalton

"Degen has elevated endless esoteric minutiae of 'the Canadian sport' into the stuff of fine narrative... echoes of Vonnegut with a hint of Damon Runyon, or Hugh Garner at his best, if he'd paid more attention to hockey."
—John Moss

"Who knew that the Stanley Cup's visit to a winning player's home town could turn into a look at the impact of the Cold War on gamesmanship and survival? John Degen, that's who. The Uninvited Guest should have a wide readership. There's lots to talk about in its clever pages."
—Val Ross

"If you're fed up with the Stanley Cup residing in the southern US, read John Degen's novel The Uninvited Guest. He blends hockey, sex and a Romanian wedding in this absurdly hilarious book."

Matthew Firth, <i>Ottawa XPress</i>

"With entrancing storytelling, where even minor characters have depth, Degen pulls off a wild conceit linking our national game with Romanian backgammon, amid lively lessons about bravery, risk, and luck."

<i>Books in Canada</i>

"Direct, deceptively easy-to-follow, and colourful writing. And along-the-way insights into Canada's national game, as well as Romania's national game... are terrifically entertaining for aficionados of either."

Eric McMillan, <i>Mid-Town Crier</i>

"The writing is very simple, crisp and direct... The real strength lies in the structure Degen has employed and its ability to deliver on the overall theme of the book... [S]atisfying and resonant... John Degen has written a very fine book—rarely is an uninvited guest so enjoyable."

Steven Galloway, <i>The Globe and Mail</i>

"I enjoyed this book because I've lived the inside story. The Uninvited Guest offers a fictional and philosophical lens on a wide range of subjects from the lives of professional hockey players to the keepers of the Cup to Eastern European history to storytelling, and blurs the whole spectrum together in a finale full of love, community and companionship."

Igor Larionov, three-time winner of the Stanley Cup

"John Degen has hovered above us, plucked the world free of its myths and assembled them here. The Uninvited Guest is a delicate and assured investigation of the moments when we cross over into love and into death. Degen finds us when we are mortal, when we are brave, when we are victorious, when we are alone, and when we have that most tenuous of prizes: a sense of belonging. His unlikely divining rod: a hockey trophy. Making heroes of some and monks of others, Degen has made a home for them all. It is a home lighted by the sharp-edged human truths that soar through and plunder us—in their articulation, reminding us, gently, clearly, of the lives that could have been ours."

Claudia Dey, author of <i>Trout Stanley</i> and <i>The Gwendolyn Poems</i>