No Great Mischief [Import] [Hardcover]

Alistair MacLeod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2006

Alistair MacLeod musters all of the skill and grace that have won him an international following to give us No Great Mischief, the story of a fiercely loyal family and the tradition that drives it.

Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Trillium Book Award, and the CBA Libris
Award for Book of the Year

“MacLeod is MacLeod, the greatest living Canadian writer. . . . No Great Mischief is a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece.”
— Globe and Mail

“A tale of truth about people who care for one another and for the living world around them. A lament and a celebration, it will endure.”
— Farley Mowat

“You will find scenes from this majestic novel burned into your mind forever.”
— Alice Munro

"One of the great undiscovered writers of our time."
–Michael Ondaatje

About the Author

Raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Alistair MacLeod has written two volumes of short stories and is recognized as one of Canada's most distinguished writers. He taught creative writing at the University of Indiana and is currently a professor or English at the University of Windsor, Ontario. MacLeod is married with six children and still spends his summers in Cape Breton.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart; Special Edition edition (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771055757
• ISBN-13: 978-0771055751
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,812,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Some people have more choices than others.", January 13, 2008

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: No Great Mischief (Hardcover)

Alexander MacDonald, the narrator of this warm and ennobling family saga, comments to his brother that "Talking about history is not like living it...Some people have more choices than others." And there, in a nutshell, is the essence of this tender generational novel. The MacDonalds are, in many ways, an "ordinary" family on Cape Breton, but MacLeod creates a history for them so alive that the reader experiences it, too, feeling their sorrow and joy, admiring their pluck and independence, and celebrating their loyalty and bravery as they make the hard choices their lives require. They become heroes to us not because they have performed unusual feats but because they have achieved nobility within the collective memory of their own family.

Alexander MacDonald, the speaker, no longer lives on Cape Breton. An orthodontist, he travels weekly to Toronto to visit his alcoholic brother Calum, named for the family patriarch who came to the island in 1779 from Scotland. As he travels back and forth and reminisces, sometimes in Gaelic, with his much less fortunate brother, many generations of MacDonalds come to life, and we see how these forbears have shaped the two brothers and influenced their different, but shared, destinies.

MacLeod is very lyrical. Like a musician, he repeats certain themes. Gaelic phrases echo throughout, almost like a refrain. First names continue in different generations to remind the reader of historical resemblances and differences. And always, in every generation, he celebrates the dominance of the original Calum MacDonald and of Cape Breton in shaping their lives.

MacLeod never stoops to sentimentality, however. His main characters are all macho males living macho lives, and he includes no romantic love story to soften the harshness of life. Still, he has created one of the warmest, most loving, and enduring family stories anyone will ever find. The book pulses with heart, an unforgettable novel by a writer who is so precise in his structure and word choice that in his entire career he has produced only this one novel and fourteen short stories published in two extraordinary collections. Reading MacLeod is a great, rewarding pleasure for anyone interested in beautiful prose and careful execution. Mary Whipple