Poetry

What happens in the small prairie town of Tuckahoe? An irresponsible drifter fakes a unique illness to break an engagement . . . a preacher stops a feud by performing an impromptu wedding . . . a minister’s wife rescues a young man from the threat of blindness . . . a woman scandalizes a town by naming her children after different fathers . . . a schoolteacher finds love on a woodpile . . . a wanted man starts a new life in a piano box . . . and a hen-pecked husband repairs his marriage by getting drunk and losing his money. Neil McKinnon’s debut collection kicks up some dust, skews small town hokum, and offers a wrap on the knuckles for the individuals of the classic prairie town of Tuckahoe. Thoughout the desperation and adversity rides an undercurrent of sly humour.

• Nominated for the 2007 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour