V anderhaeghe, G uy

Abstract

Guy Vanderhaeghe's four novels and three collections of stories have redefined and enriched the reach of prairie writing in Canada, and broadened the power and possibilities of contemporary fiction. Beginning with the Governor General's Award‐ and Faber Prize‐winning collection, Man Descending (1982), Vanderhaeghe's short fiction has depicted a rich series of ironic, detached, and quirkily philosophical characters, such as Ed, the collection's sardonic title figure, who is reincarnated and more fully developed in Vanderhaeghe's first novel, My Present Age (1984). While his short stories, often darkly comical, are founded on his characters’ quotidian vices and arresting voices, Vanderhaeghe's novels – particularly his two most recent, The Englishman's Boy (1996) and The Last Crossing (2002) – are at once grounded in and reach far beyond their prairie settings as they represent a dialogue between competing facets of the last two centuries of North American and European history and culture.