This is the cover of my novel In A Cloud Of Dust And Smoke (Black Moss Press, 2003; cover photo by Marty Gervais). Due to popular demand (or something of the sort) I've decided to accompany it with some comments from the more astute critics, as follows.
"A beautiful novel, written from the heart."
— Fred Cogswell
"An entertaining novel with serious and even sombre overtones — a kind of anti-romance in which the narrator keeps a comic perspective on his own and others' woes, and remains to the end an innocent, reminiscent of Tom Jones and other picaresque heroes."
— Robert Gibbs
A fine, fine book... well-written, provocative, engaging."
A fine, fine book... well-written, provocative, engaging."
— Michael Holmes, ECW Press
"Endearing and engaging... provides a nuanced insight into a time that will never return."
— The Gleaner
— The Gleaner
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Below is the cover of a novella and story collection called Costa Blanca (Black Moss Press, 2001; cover photo by Marty Gervais). "A must read, by one of Canada's truly great writers." — Gail MacMillan, author, Ceilidh's Quest.
"A Canadian literary legend. If every writer wrote with the clarity and gusto Fraser does, more people would still be readers." — Allen Tepper
Much of Costa Blanca was set in and around the town of Denia, Spain, seen in the photo below.
This is roughly what the author looked like in his Costa Blanca Period, in the 1970s.
Another book our author worked on in Spain (as well as in Chatham and on board Spanish Jack) was the novel, The Struggle Outside, published in 1975 by McGraw-Hill Ryerson. "Represents the best in contemporary satire. Outrageously funny." Best Sellers, New York
The Bannonbridge Musicians, on the other hand, wasn't written in Spain, but in Saint John and Black River Bridge. It was published by Breakwater Books in 1978, and for what such things are worth was runner-up for the Governor General's Award. (Cover painting by Gerald Squires)
"A rollicking tale, well told." — William French, Globe & Mail
"It's well-written, it's touching, it's full of life, and it's funny."
— Andre Vigneault, CBC Radio
The book you see below, Rum River (novel & stories), was written in Black River Bridge, Montreal and Fredericton, and published by Broken Jaw Press in 1997. After you've dallied a moment over the cover you'll find an extra treat at the bottom. (Cover photo by Joe Blades)
What some of the sharper readers and critics had to say about Rum River:
"Comic and horrifying."
— Heather Sanderson, Canadian Literature
"Perceptive, magnetic and laced with humour."
— Anne Ingram, The Gleaner
"As with all Raymond Fraser books, almost impossible to put down." — Brian Jeffrey Street, author, The Parachute Ward
"A wonderful enthralling read — intensely personal yet universally relevant. Necessary pain and the heart of a poet is required to write prose like this. It's the first time I read a book straight through in a long time. I'm no critic, but Rum River belongs on the same shelf as such masterpieces as The Catcher In The Rye."
— Bernell MacDonald, author, Birds Of Passage
Message on answering machine from Dave Butler, calling from Chatham, NB (April 8/98)
"God knows what roads you're running these days. In any friggin' case I'll call you by and by. Just one point... I don't know how long your message machine runs... I was talking to Billy Daley, the outstanding former baseball player with Chatham Ironmen, and I loaned him a copy of Rum River a few days ago, and he read the whole damn thing — he's quite a literate guy — he read the whole thing in a sitting or two, and called me and told me it was tremendous! And so he's doing some good oral reviews around the local saloons and that. Daley is very quick-witted; he's looked upon by some as a dumb jock, but he's not that, which is why I loaned him the book. Anyway, he recounted (and he's got a pretty good memory) excerpts from the book, and quoting a few lines which he thought particularly delicious, shall we say, and all the boys in the local saloons think it's great stuff, and they're all... "[machine cuts him off]
This photo is here for two reasons. It shows the author as he looked while writer-in-residence at Fredericton High School in the mid-nineties, during the time he was working on Rum River. And it shows how he looked when disguised as a man without a beard. (Photo by Stanya)
As can be seen from this snapshot, it apparently wasn't the only time he wore such a disguise. (Photographer unknown)
And speaking of Black River Bridge, here we see (or almost see) the author in his one-time residence there. With him are two renowned Newfoundland artists who were guests for the night. From l. to r., Stewart Montgomerie, Raymond Fraser and Gerald Squires.
Caught in another beardless moment, the author relaxes aboard Spanish Jack in the summer of 1972. This photo was used on the back cover of his first book of fiction, The Black Horse Tavern. (Photo by Roman Gordy)
The Black Horse Tavern was published in Montreal by Ingluvin Publications in 1973. The book comprises a novella (The Quebec Prison) and nine stories, and received such great reviews in newspapers all across Canada that it sold out in a few months and was never reprinted. (Cover photo by Raymond Fraser)
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That's it for book covers for now, except for the next one. It's called Before You're A Stranger, and as sole representative of the poetry faction it might (I fear) attempt to sneak in some shameless comments on the author as poet.
"I read the book from cover to cover — I found the verses so delightful I couldn't put it down until I finished. The everyday subjects and events the poems deal with ring so true."
— T.C. "Tommy" Douglas
"Fraser notices so much and responds with feeling and humor, and it's all so accessible to the reader. There isn't a poem in the book that isn't worth reading."
— Alan Pearson
"Unfailingly interesting and impossible to put down once I started. Wonderful stuff!"
— Louis Dudek
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Another rare poetry book you might want to pick up
next time you're shopping is Macbride Poems.
It's not a long read, only twelve pages, and is available
at Amazon.ca. When last checked it was listed as follows:
Macbride Poems (Paperback)
by Raymond Fraser (Author)
Publisher: Wild East Press
Available from these sellers:
1 used & new available: CDN$ 794.92
Frobisher Books, USA
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