Review
Review
`Tester has written Summat Else with a starkness that allows the reader to fully understand the depths of Enoch Jones and his pain. The characters in Enoch's life are as real to the reader as they are to him. And one wonders, just how does life turn out for Enoch Jones.'
(Robert LeBlanc Ultimate Hallucination )`By the above descriptions, Summat Else may begin to sound like a sordid, sensational series of stories about pain and suffering — a too-young mother in a cold world, a juvenile delinquent boy, and troubled, rough, gay sex. It is this and more, thanks to Tester's knife-edged imagination, and his great skill, which craft humanity and humour in the grimmest of situations. Tester weaves politics, morality, pain, and humour into a complex and moving book. His narrative prose — syntax, dialogue, and phrasing — is quirky, fresh, surprising, idiomatic, and inventive. Listening to the characters talk is engaging, entertaining, and often gripping. Tester's skill with character and situation, whether in the dark or in the light, whether occupying the high ground or the gutter, compels the reader to engage; Tester evokes our emotions — apprehension, empathy, and more. Royston Tester makes us care. Read him.'
(Steven Ross Smith Prairie Fire )`If you're an average Canadian reader, it might be a couple of weeks from the time you put down Summat Else before you fully appreciate its beauty.'
(Linda M Bayley Canadian Book Review Annual )
