The Crew

Susan Manningham teaches sociology at Queen’s University in Kingston.

The protagonist of this novel, one Mike Kozicki, is a favorite character
from Dickinson’s short stories who is wonderfully described as a
“tall, stoop-shouldered man with gangly arms and hands the size of fan
rakes. Weathered, his face put others in mind of squinted horizons and
fiddle players named Al.” Mike’s supporting cast, “the crew,” is
just as colorful: Lannie, a recent resident of the Mental Centre, is a
dog lover on the lookout for the Man with the Great Big Gun; Trischuk,
who has a weight-lifter’s physique, is involved in an on-the-job
affair with Anna; Anna herself is being stalked by her simian
ex-husband, Corny Fergus, “a tall sad man who resembled a stork with
the blues” and who has experienced most of the injuries listed in
Prevention of Industrial Accidents: A Worker’s Guide.

Mike has his own share of problems—an estranged daughter, a
girlfriend who’s just departed, a union that is about to go on strike,
and a prostate problem. Rather than see his landscaping crew walk the
picket lines until they’re laid off for the winter, Mike lines up a
“freelance” job with an eccentric millionaire and digs himself a
little deeper. Raw, colorful, bawdy, and honest are just a few of the
adjectives that apply to this wonderfully observed and very funny first
novel.