Hello, Horse

Description

Taut, stylish stories take on big moral questions from surprising perspectives.A teenagers job mucking stalls at a dog track takes a strange turn when his co-worker finds a new religion at odds with winning streaks. Two brothers set out in search of fame upon the frozen waters of a subarctic lake. After her mothers death, a high school student tries to make rent by winning the Unitarian Churchs Annual Young Writers Short Story Competition. An incarcerated man considers the nature of justice between shifts with his fellow inmates at Nations at War, the ultimate live-action experience for tourists eager to learn about the Canadian Civil War.Spanning states and provinces, and featuring an apocalypse, a coterie of ghosts, nuns on ice, and an above-average number of dogs, the stories inHello, Horseconsider the mirage of authenticity and the impact of decisions we makefor better and for worse.Praise forHello, HorseThe animal world interacts with the human one in confounding and sometimes wondrous ways in Kemicks first collection, which abounds with the poets sideways, observational writing.Globe and MailInnovative is the joy that Kemick seems to take in juxtaposing the grotesque with the comical. Consider a father whose limb gets amputated by a rock saw with a blade so hot that it instantly cauterizes the wound. An arms lopped onto the dirt and the shoulder sockets a dead-end, Kemick gleefully describes, quickly adding the macabre remark that everything had been burned closed and probably smelled like hamburger. . . Kemicks unique voice shines with these moments of tonal whiplash. By using dark humour to sharpen the impact of otherwise grim scenarios, he traverses the extremes of slapstick comedy and gory tragedy.Literary Review of CanadaThe tales here mix whimsy, weirdness, lust, and Canadian politics, bringing to mind George Saunders and the slackers fromWaynes World. . . He has a penchant for alternating between things familiar and bizarre . . . Provocative, entertaining short fiction.Kirkus Reviews(starred review)Throughout the book is a masterful tension in the idea that reality is always already stranger than it seems. From talking dogs to brutal, cross-checking nuns,Hello, Horseis smart writing.Alberta ViewsRestless, exuberant, meandering, funny, inventive, and really quite bonkers . . . Either Kemick is one of those rare, savant-like authors whose outpouring is naturally (and enviably) stylish, or he tempers what seems to be a natural, baroque extravagance with careful, word-by-word revision. Whatever the case, readers will noticeand ought to appreciatethose sentences . . . All in all,Hello, Horsegallops and canters, dazzles and makes a splash. Prepare to be wowed.The Miramichi ReaderOverall, Kemick has balanced visually rich absurdity . . . and the general malaise of youth with admirable, poetic flair. This is an unapologetically unique slice of Canadiana.The BC ReviewRollicking and acrobatic, guffaw-inducing, a bit excessive, and an Exhibit A of the natural born writer. Whats not to love?Brett Josef Grubisic,The BC Review[Richard Kelly Kemicks] a mad genius. The stories are based on wacky premises . . . yet they are gorgeously rendered and surprisingly poignant.Caroline Adderson,Scout Book ClubThe year 2024 has Richard Kelly Kemick, whose wild imagination and fresh insights cast a spell inHello, Horse; every entrancing story casts off in a different direction, with a genuine wait? what?! moment you did not see coming.Susan Grimbly,Zed: Zoomer Book ClubRichard Kelly KemicksHello, Horseis wildly original and filled with astonishing moments. A wonderful collection that resonates long after reading.Don Gillmor, author ofBreaking and EnteringHello, Horseis beguiling and wondrous, with talking dogs and nuns at the end of the world, images that linger with strange pleasure; Richard Kelly Kemick is a stellar wordsmith.Mark Anthony Jarman, author ofBurn ManAlice Munro meets George Saunders, and make it queer. Storiesshimmering, strange, and surprising. A sensational debut.Laurel Rhame, Phoenix Books (Essex Junction, VT)Praise for Richard Kelly KemickKemick convincingly wrests the sublime from the trivial. He manages, astonishingly, a tone both earnest and ironic, with details and insights that are lively, unexpected, funny, and poignant.National Magazine AwardsRichard Kemick spends a summer in Albertas Bible Belt where it may be easier to find God than a vegetarian meal. There, he confronts age-old questions about belief with near-miraculous freshness, honesty, and humour. A deeply personal investigation of the blurred border between faith and imagination.Marcello Di Cintio, author of Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi DriversLaugh out loud funny . . . Kemicks own faith or lack thereof is . . . one of the deeper themes that courses beneath the comedy.Calgary HeraldWisecracking, earnest, and charmingly obsessive, Kemick introduces himself here as a poet who believes in something larger than his own self, and so is a poet to watch.Nick Thran