No Relation

Description

Winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour

This is the story of a young copywriter in New York City. He’s worked at the same agency for fifteen years, and with a recent promotion under his belt, life is good. Then, one morning this copywriter finds himself unceremoniously fired from his job, and after he catches his live-in girlfriend moving out of their apartment a couple hours later, he’s also single. Believe it or not, these aren’t the biggest problems in this copywriter’s life. There’s something bigger, something that has been haunting him his whole life, something that he’ll never be able to shake. Meet Earnest Hemmingway.

What’s in a name? Well, if you share your moniker with the likes of some of the most revered, infamous, and sometimes dreaded names in history, plenty. This is Earnest’s lifelong plight, but now he’s had enough. It’s time to take back his name.

With the help of peers from newly-established support group for people with famous names, Earnest embarks on an unorthodox and kooky journey of self-discovery.

“What delightful lunacy Fallis has concocted here, with a dollop of intrigue and even romance.” —Montreal Gazette

“So what’s in a name? When it’s Terry Fallis, you know it means a good book.” —National Post

“Terry Fallis writes with a light touch and fine sense of the inherent humanity of humour, while still addressing one of the biggest questions we all have to face: Who are you? Who are you really?” —Will Ferguson, author of 419, winner of the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize

“Reading a Fallis novel is like watching The Big Bang Theory or some other well-scripted TV sitcom. You laugh, you are entertained, you return to your regular life slightly refreshed.” —Quill & Quire

“Fallis fans, rejoice! Terry is back! . . . A humorous and heart-warming tale.” —CBC.ca

TERRY FALLIS grew up in Toronto and earned an engineering degree from McMaster University. Drawn to politics at an early age, he worked for cabinet ministers in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park. His first novel, The Best Laid Plans, began as a podcast, then was self-published, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, was re-published by McClelland & Stewart to great reviews, was crowned the 2011 winner of CBC’s Canada Reads as “the essential Canadian novel of the decade,” and was adapted as a CBC Television series and a stage musical. His next two novels, The High Road and Up and Down were finalists for the Leacock Medal, and in 2015, he won the prize a second time, for his fourth book, No Relation. His other novels include Poles Apart, One Brother Shy, Albatross, and Operation Angus, and were all national bestsellers. A skilled public speaker, he lives in Toronto with his wife, and blogs at www.terryfallis.com.US

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