ISBN 9781926639536
Price: $21.95
Like I Care is set in Vancouver a year or two into the future, when everything is just like it is now, apart from the invasion of monsters from Japanese Horror movies, the frequent earthquakes, and the army of scooter-riding Yé-Yé girls taking over the streets. The characters include a couple of families who live in an upscale suburb. Arnold is a struggling real-estate agent who is going through a divorce from Katherine, who believes she is Princess Diana. Their daughter, Christiana, is an aspiring model. Lawrence, their neighbour, has retired from his civil service career and is now a consultant who specializes in writing pointless mission statements. He’s plotting an affair with a young woman who belongs to a cannibal cult led by a chef who has created the perfect Canadian cuisine—eating the corrupt. Lawrence’s blended family includes Dorothy, his wife, and her son Thomas, who has dropped out of university and discovered that his true vocation is watching daytime TV. They’re all about to be transformed through the influence of legendary New-Age financier and evangelist of globalization Mitchell Mobius. Thomas becomes his evil twin, Raoul, and joins Mobius in founding a company that markets obsolete trends. Christiana is transformed into a media icon without her knowledge or consent. Arnold also jumps on the Mitchell Mobius bandwagon and finds himself in Taiwan just in time for the invasion. Fear, uncertainty, disinformation: that’s the mantra of the 21st century, and Arnold and his friends are living it to the hilt.
Praise for Stephen Guppy’s first novel, The Fire Thief:
“…a masterful piece of storytelling, with well-drawn characters and imagined situations that seem all too real”. The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
“Guppy sharply evokes character and milieu in dialogue and prose that are skillfully-shaped.” The Vancouver Sun
Praise for Stephen Guppy’s stories:
“Stephen Guppy’s The Work of Mercy…collects the work of a writer with an impressive and under-appreciated oeuvre.…His new collection brings together nine stories of remarkable intensity that have been previously published in journals and collections. Like Dianne Arbus’ photography, which influenced some of Guppy’s finest poems, these stories demonstrate a keen eye for the freakish and outré that always lurk at the not-so-distant margins of the everyday world”. Canadian Literature
“Stephen Guppy has a remarkable talent”. Monday Magazine
Stephen Guppy is the author of several books including The Fire Thief (novel) The Work of Mercy (stories) Understanding Heaven (poems) which was shortlisted for the BC Book Award/Dorothy Livesay Award for Poetry.