Paint Cans

Lynne Hughes teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

Paul Donovan is a young film director. Paint Cans is the story of Wick
Burns, a Canadian civil servant who works at a company whose mandate it
is to decide which movies will receive government funding. The book
revolves around Burns’s reaction to a film proposal from an old school
friend, and, along the way, his handling of romance, family problems,
and his own identity crisis.

Donovan has written a suspenseful, fast-paced novel that offers both
hilarious and disturbing insights into the intriguing politics and
bureaucracy of the Canadian arts community. It is also an entertaining
portrait of the difficult choices one faces when trying to juggle the
demands of both personal and professional life. The book’s
realistic—and certainly not all admirable—characters are so well
drawn that the reader is able to empathize, to some extent at least,
with most of them. True-to-life dialogue, colorful locales, and lots of
action are its other enjoyable aspects.

Paint Cans is a delightful read that builds to an exciting and
surprising climax. This reviewer highly recommends it.