This book was born as I was hungry. Let me explain. In the spring of 1996, my second
book, a novel, came out in Canada. It didn't fare well. Reviewers were puzzled, or
damned it with faint praise. Then readers ignored it. Despite my best efforts at playing
the clown or the trapeze artist, the media circus made no difference. The book did not
move. Books lined the shelves of bookstores like kids standing in a row to play baseball
or soccer, and mine was the gangly, unathletic kid that no one wanted on their team. It
vanished quickly and quietly.