Bill Gaston

The twelve entertaining stories in this collection are linked by the "Mount Appetite" of the title: the common theme of yearning and seeking, often involving addiction to substances, people and schemes of the heart. The protagonists struggle to satiate their desires by indulging in alcohol and other vices or, alternatively, scorning those who do. The book is marked by Bill Gaston's much-praised dexterity of voice and range of colourful characters, from the illiterate faith healer in New Brunswick to the articulate and illegitimate son of Malcolm Lowry in BC. Here is muscular, award-winning, unpredictable and addictive fiction by a writer of wit, skill and power.