A Fine Ending (Paperback)

~ Louis Rastelli (Author)
Key Phrases: riot cops, New Year's Eve, Old Montreal, North Carolina (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In his powerful debut novel, Louis Rastelli presents the story of a twentysomething struggling musician who drifts through Montreal's music scene.

It's the end of the nineties, the end of the twentieth century, and the end of an era in the city's Plateau / Mile End district. Rastelli spins spontaneous tales of the artists and musicians, drunks and junkies, and punks and yuppies made neighbors by gentrification.

A calamitous ice storm and the looming Y2K are pondered between rounds at the local bar. An apartment is the scene of an impromptu cabaret one night and a church service the next. As the narrator races to save a friend's cats from appallingly casual human cruelties, he tests his faith in those around him, finding hints of solace in abandoned buildings and the home movies of strangers.

In a voice that transcends the vernacular yet stays remarkably true to it, Rastelli captures the fin-de-siécle mood while remaining both wise to and untainted by the apathy and cynicism of the times. Singularly evocative.

About the Author

Louis Rastelli is the publisher of Fish Piss (named "Canada's best zine" by Broken Pencil Magazine). Along with other small publishers, Rastelli co-founded Expozine, Montreal's annual small press, comic, and zine fair. In 2001, Rastelli initiated a network of vending machines in Montreal that sells miniature books and cultural artifacts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Insomniac Press (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897178492
• ISBN-13: 978-1897178492
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,507,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars What the reviewers are saying about A Fine Ending, July 22, 2008

By	Montrealer reader (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

Here is what reviewers have been saying about A Fine Ending:

"By touching upon the lives of those who inhabit the region - a generation with nothing to gain and nothing to lose - (Rastelli) has successfully painted a timeless portrait of the spirit of bohemia that not only permeates the vibrant and colourful Montreal neighbourhood in which he lives and loves, but would feel equally at home in Greenwich Village, Soho or along the left bank of Paris. And, like the Plateau itself, A Fine Ending shines with both substance and style." - Stephen Clare, Halifax Daily News

"A Fine Ending reads like a middle-of-the-night yarn from a slightly stoned scribe who has set himself the task of telling everybody's story - for a laugh or at least a smile. Yet hovering overhead is a powerful metaphysical gravitas heightened by the narrator's innocence." - Marianne Ackerman, The Globe and Mail (Canada)

"Although Louis Rastelli's A Fine Ending is written in a smooth, flowing style reminiscent of J.D. Salinger or Jacques Poulin, that doesn't fully explain the novel's appeal... His unique, insider perspective and matter-of-fact voice are the real draws in this warm-hearted account of an artistic community's defining years." - Anne Chudobiak, Montreal Gazette

"Louis Rastelli was very much a part of the Montreal Plateau scene in the '90s, that recession era that encompassed the Referendum and the Ice Storm and culminated, or fizzled out, with Y2K. And he was definitely taking notes. The result, part elegy, part celebration, part parallel-universe Friends, is A Fine Ending. It's an episodically structured novel whose charms may take some time to make themselves felt but whose parts eventually coalesce into a vivid, funny, and touching record of a unique time and place."-- Ian McGillis, Montreal Review of Books

"A Fine Ending is about a community of friends that grows and changes shape through the years, but who remain loyal to one another and their bohemian way of life. It's about young people fighting to pursue their art when the world wants them to just grow up and get a job. Rastelli successfully re-creates the gritty world of his youth, peopled with earthy characters and exploits that shock and entertain. Though spotted with tragedy, he maintains an upbeat tone throughout the novel." - Carmen Klassen, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

"A Fine Ending is exactly that, an untroubled immortalization of a bygone era in the Montreal underground. There is something undeniably compelling in the openness and innocence of the telling, in the largely non-subjective subjectivity. We feel safe in his story, and therein lies the draw - whatever the faults, A Fine Ending offers a comfy barstool perspective on the times, a cold beer and good company, and that's always hard to pass up."- Jamie O'Meara, Hour (Montreal)