The Union of Smokers

Kaspar Pine begins his day with a simple task: replace a pet canary. By day's end, as Kaspar is being loaded into an ambulance, he delivers one hell of a "theme essay," covering such subjects as his ability to source and catalogue the cigarette butts he harvests; information on maintaining the social order of chickens, along with general and historic farming details that run from Saskatchewan to Ontario; insinuating himself between other kids and people who wish to do them harm; fire marshalling; and his inability to maintain an essayist’s cool detachment in the face of unrequited first love. details the heartfelt and heroic last day in the life of a reluctant, irreverent, and oddly wise hero. "A narrative voice that gets in your head and proves unforgettable, [and] a story that manages to be utterly devastating and uplifting at once."