Animals of all kinds, from a lovesick hippopotamus to a valuable pair of Chelsea dogs make an appearance in Hugh Hood's delightful new collection of short stories You'll Catch Your Death. But mostly one is aware of the birds. As the narrator in Hood's opening story observes, 'what I saw was birds and birds and again birds'. Mosaic renderings of peacocks and cranes, a cage of cruelly imprisoned pigeons, a lorikeet named Ronnie Reagan, a couple of stolen cockatoos and a bestselling book entitled 'Caring Parenting While Birding' each play a role in these stories, along with a cast of eccentric bird lovers.

Amusing, thoughtful, and by turns poignant, the thirteen never-before-published stories in You'll Catch Your Death are Hugh Hood at his eclectic best. 'More Birds' and 'You'll Catch Your Death' explore mankind's tenuous relationship with the animal world. 'Disappearing Creatures of Various Kinds' reveals some of the mysterious ways in which humans reach out and communicate with other living creatures. On the other hand 'Deanna and the Ayatollah' invents a fateful encounter between Khomeini and film star Deanna Durbin, while 'Getting Funding' is a hilarious send-up of Canadian arts funding and the CBC.

Hugh Hood was born in Toronto in 1928 and studied at the University of Toronto, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1955. He worked as a university teacher for over forty years -- over thirty of those years spent at the Universit? de Montr?al. He was married to painter and printmaker Noreen Mallory and had four children. He died in Montreal in August of 2000.

Hood wrote 32 books, amongst them novels, collections of stories and essays, an art book, and a book of sports journalism. His most extended project, begun in 1975 and occupying him right up until the time of his death, was a twelve volume roman fleuve entitled The New Age / Le nouveau si?cle. The last book in this series, Near Water, was published by Anansi in 2000.

Hugh Hood's profile page

'This is Hood at his best: compelling first-person voice; simple, elegant narrative line; evocative, resonant imagery; and a commitment to messy, life-affirming irresolution. ...A cultural theorist specializing in fast food -- he cheers the triumph of the quarter-pounder over Marx, Darwin, and Freud -- prefers an intensely romantic reverie to the instant gratification of quickie sex with ''Joline from Moline'' in the story of that name.'

Quill & Quire

'There is also something misleading and at the same time strangely appropriate about the titles Hood has chosen for his short stories. Enticingly insinuating and sometimes slightly lascivious, it is obvious that they have been chosen with the utmost appeal in mind. Phrases like ''hot cockatoos'' and ''Jill's disappearing nipples'' conjure up immediate and striking visual images. Images such as those are never created without a definite purpose in mind. ...

'Hugh Hood, whose thirty-year career includes such books as 1962's Flying a Red Kite and the New Age series, continues his success with You'll Catch Your Death. Tackling such diverse subjects as loneliness, heroism and the search for perfection the author uses his insight into the human condition to create a world as eclectic and eccentric as the one it reflects.'

Winnipeg Free Press