Light Lifting
Alexander MacLeodAlexander MacLeod is a writer of "ferocious intelligence" and "ferocious physicality" (CTV). Light Lifting is a suite of darkly urban, unflinching elegies. The seven stories each encompass a keenly observed, immersive world, rooted firmly in the real life of work and family.
"Alexander MacLeod's control of cadence and rhythm is so complete that it seems effortless... [These stories] contain a rare kind of truthfulness." - Colm ToibinThis was the day after Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear. You remember that. It was a moment in history – not like Kennedy or the planes flying into the World Trade Center – not up at that level. This was something much lower, more like Ben Johnson, back when his eyes were that thick, yellow colour and he tested positive in Seoul after breaking the world record in the hundred.
You might not know exactly where you were standing or exactly what you were doing when you first heard about Tyson or about Ben, but when the news came down, I bet it stuck with you. When Tyson bit off Holyfield’s ear, that cut right through the everyday clutter.
"His brilliant debut collection, Light Lifting, is engrossing, thrilling and ultimately satisfying: each story has the weight of a novel. The young Canadian writer is already winning plaudits in his own country. He can expect acclaim far beyond... The choice of words is spare, simple and unaffected, and the rhythm is perfect... stunning work. Mr MacLeod's next contribution will be eagerly anticipated." - The Economist
These are elemental stories of work and its bonds, of tragedy and tragedy barely averted, but also of beauty, love and fragile understanding.