The Long Drive Home

Description

208 pages
$18.99
ISBN 1-895837-56-1
DDC C813'.54

Author

Publisher

Year

1999

Contributor

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

Review

In this debut novel, Toronto short-story writer, poet, and playwright
Stan Rogal has created a memorable cast of quirky characters (including
a pair of gay retired hit men who have reunited for a final job),
pitting them against each other in a string of tension-filled plots and
subplots as their paths crisscross during an unforgettable five-day
trip. Their travels begin at an unspecified location in Maine and end
with a shoot-up in a residential bedroom in Toronto, with stops along
the way in New Hampshire, Vermont, Magog, and Kingston. As the
characters pursue their individual searches for a metaphorical home of
their own, they are caught up in entertaining tales of intrigue, love,
lust, adultery, greed, violence, and revenge.

Rogal combines the minimalist prose style of a Raymond Carver with the
cinematic surrealism of a David Lynch. He uses the filmic techniques of
flashbacks, intercuts, and foreshadowing to keep the reader glued to the
unfolding storyline, and uses interior monologues to reinforce the
novel’s sense of mystery while simultaneously revealing the
motivations of the protagonists. The Long Drive Home is a masterfully
crafted, grippingly told tale.

Citation

Rogal, Stan., “The Long Drive Home,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed February 7, 2025, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/575.