{"product_id":"the-full-catastrophe-9781487009946","title":"The Full Catastrophe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner, 2023 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist, 2023 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA compassionate and funny novel about defining yourself, the communities that support us, and the journeys that secrets propel.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCharlie Minkoff, a thirteen-year-old boy born with intersex traits, would be happy to be left alone. Living with his artist mother in a derelict loft in downtown Winnipeg, perpetually wondering about the father who abandoned him, and tormented in school because of his differences, Charlie navigates the assorted catastrophes of his life. He's helped along by the love of his beloved grandfather, Oscar, and the makeshift family who surround him: his mother's best friend; a couple of elderly shut-in neighbours; a mysterious girl in his class who has secrets of her own; and his desperately needy and perpetually hungry dog, Gellman.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen a school project leads him to discover that Oscar never had a bar mitzvah, Charlie decides to right the historical wrong and arrange a belated ceremony. But this quest will be more than he bargained for, and meanwhile everyone from his doctor to his Ancestry Studies teacher keeps insisting that Charlie needs to learn to tell his own story.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMargaret Laurence Award winner Méira Cook's \u003cem\u003eThe Full Catastrophe\u003c\/em\u003e is a story of psychological complexity, tenderness, and humour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCook, Méira:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMÉIRA COOK\u003c\/strong\u003e is the award-winning author of the novels \u003cem\u003eThe House on Sugarbush Road\u003c\/em\u003e, which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, and \u003cem\u003eNightwatching\u003c\/em\u003e, which won the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction. She has also published five poetry collections, most recently \u003cem\u003eMonologue Dogs\u003c\/em\u003e, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Lansdowne Prize for Poetry and for the 2016 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award. She has won the CBC Poetry Prize and the inaugural Walrus Poetry Prize. She has served as Writer in Residence at the University of Manitoba's Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture, and the Winnipeg Public Library. Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, she now lives in Winnipeg.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"House of Anansi Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50382837219602,"sku":"9781487009946","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_58732dcd-0ebb-4309-9137-59635b566d2f.jpg?v=1728772369","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-full-catastrophe-9781487009946","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}