''King Leary'' is a novel by Canadian humorist Paul Quarrington, published in 1987 by Doubleday Canada. The novel is part of an unofficial trilogy with Quarrington's earlier ''

The Life of Hope ''The Life of Hope'' is a novel by Paul Quarrington, published in 1985 by Doubleday Canada."Free love and hope". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 21, 1985. It is part of an unofficial trilogy with Quarrington's later novels '' King Leary'' and '' ...

'' and his later '' Logan in Overtime''."Tale of a goalie on the skids isn't Quarrington's top scorer". '' Edmonton Journal'', March 10, 1990. Although none of the novels centre on the same protagonists, they all feature some background interrelationships of character and setting.

Plot introduction

The novel's protagonist is Percival "King" Leary, a legendary retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player living in a small town nursing home in South Grouse, who is invited to Toronto by a young hotshot advertising executive to record a

ginger ale Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavoured with ginger. It is consumed on its own or used as a mixer, often with spirit-based drinks. There are two main types of ginger ale. The golden style is credited to the Irish doctor Thomas Joseph ...

commercial. The novel tracks his experiences on the trip, as well as exploring his past career through flashbacks. Included amongst these reminiscences are his times at a juvenile reformatory as well as his years with several hockey teams. The book's cast consists of various hockey players; an aged journalist, ‘Blue’ Hermann, who chronicled Leary’s professional life; and members of Leary’s family. In addition to chronicling his experiences on the trip, the novel explores his emotional life, as ghosts from his past come to confront him about his virtual withdrawal from any kind of life outside of the nursing home.

Awards and nominations

''King Leary'' won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1988, and was shortlisted for the

Trillium Book Award The Trillium Book Award (french: Prix littéraire Trillium or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is ov ...

. It also won the 2008 edition of

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

's ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'' literary competition, in which it was championed by musician and writer

Dave Bidini Dave Bidini (born September 11, 1963) is a Canadian musician and writer. Originally from Etobicoke, Ontario, he was a founding member of the rock band Rheostatics, and currently performs with Bidiniband. In addition, he has published several b ...

.
Canada Reads 2008 - CBC.ca The novel, which had previously been out of print for a number of years, was republished by

Anchor Canada Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada. Company history Random House of Canada was established in ...

in 2007 shortly after its selection for ''Canada Reads'' was announced.

References

{{reflist

External links

''King Leary''
profile at ''

'' 1987 Canadian novels Novels by Paul Quarrington Novels about ice hockey Novels set in Toronto Doubleday Canada books