Left For Right

Left for Right is a book about the decline and death of heroes, from John Wayne to Batman to Terry Fox. It's about the hidden costs of convenience, safety and order in domestic life, about sleep disorders and unsettling dreams. It deals with body parts found on the beach, fingers regrowing like starfish arms and the left hand masquerading as the right. It's about yearning to kiss the moon and about not wanting to be left behind by our children. It's about our tenuous grasp on our own identity and our anxiety about blending into the concrete and disappearing. Glen Downie's collection, Loyalty Management (Wolsak & Wynn, 2007) won the 2008 City of Toronto Book Award.