The Lost Oasis

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia and is the
co-editor of Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

The Lost Oasis is about a son’s search for his father, who is lost in
the Sahara. It is about the son’s quest for understanding of himself,
his life, and his experiences. The journey deep into the desert is a
metaphor for the equally dangerous journey to self-understanding.

The story hops all over the world as Richard, the narrator, recalls a
childhood spent traveling with his eccentric father, an itinerant
history teacher and opportunity seeker who drags his three children (two
sons and a daughter) all over the globe, running away from the insane
mother/wife who lives in Brale (read Trail), B.C. The novel presents a
believable portrait of an incredibly dysfunctional family.

Patrick Roscoe is a highly accomplished stylist. Disparate elements are
seamlessly bonded in the smooth presentation of the narrator’s
thoughts. The images of Richard’s life are vividly transmitted. In
fact, at times there is even too much fine writing, and it can be
distracting—like watching Dustin Hoffman do acting instead of doing a
character. Nonetheless, this Conradian journey to the heart of
(spiritual) dryness is good fiction.