Book description
Jim Myers is a painfully shy kid living in Toronto's west end
Bloorcourt Village. Rarely is he able to muster enough courage to say
anything beyond "ya" or "dunno." After school he
hangs around with his neighbour and only friend, Oleg Khernofsky,
playing basketball against a NO PARKING sign in a laneway. In the
evenings, he haunts Nicky's Diner, a restaurant owned by Oleg's uncle.
On the first day of junior high, Jim crosses paths with Charlie
Crouse, a brash, mouthy kid full of wild stories about his past.
Charlie takes Jim under his wing and introduces him to the electronic
strip poker machine at the Fun Village Arcade in Koreatown, a Queen
Street hooker who calls herself Steffi Graf, and the diverse sounds
and utterances of his landlord's three lovers. As Jim and Charlie's
friendship grows, however, the realities of looming adulthood seep
into their lives with surprising consequences.
Reading the novel is like listening to a dozen simultaneous shouted
conversations, all taking place in a crowded after-school hangout.
Jules Lewis was born in Toronto and is still based there. He has
lived in Montreal, New York City, and Istanbul, and has written for
Toronto's Eye Weekly. This is his first novel.
