sewn paper
Fiction
1992
164 pages
ISBN 0-88984-144-6
$12.95
You'll Catch Your Death
Hugh Hood
Animals of all kinds, from a lovesick hippopotamus to a valuable pair
of Chelsea dogs make an appearance in Hugh Hood's delightful new
collection of short stories You'll Catch Your Death. But mostly
one is aware of the birds. As the narrator in Hood's
opening story observes, `what I saw was birds and birds and
again birds'. Mosaic renderings of peacocks and cranes, a cage
of cruelly imprisoned pigeons, a lorikeet named Ronnie Reagan,
a couple of stolen cockatoos and a bestselling book entitled
`Caring Parenting While Birding' each play a role in these
stories, along with a cast of eccentric bird lovers.
Amusing, thoughtful, and by turns poignant, the thirteen
never-before-published stories in You'll Catch Your Death
are Hugh Hood at his eclectic best. `More Birds' and `You'll
Catch Your Death' explore mankind's tenuous relationship with
the animal world. `Disappearing Creatures of Various Kinds'
reveals some of the mysterious ways in which humans reach out
and communicate with other living creatures. On the other hand
`Deanna and the Ayatollah' invents a fateful encounter between
Khomeini and film star Deanna Durbin, while `Getting Funding'
is a hilarious send-up of Canadian arts funding and the CBC.
`This is Hood at his best: compelling first-person voice; simple,
elegant narrative line; evocative, resonant imagery; and a commitment to messy,
life-affirming irresolution. ...A cultural theorist specializing in fast food - he cheers
the triumph of the quarter-pounder over Marx, Darwin, and Freud - prefers an intensely
romantic reverie to the instant gratification of quickie sex with "Joline from Moline"
in the story of that name.' `There is also something misleading and at the same time strangely
appropriate about the titles Hood has chosen for his short stories.
Enticingly insinuating and sometimes slightly lascivious, it is obvious that they have been chosen
with the utmost appeal in mind. Phrases like "hot cockatoos" and "Jill's
disappearing nipples" conjure up immediate and striking visual images. Images
such as those are never created without a definite purpose in mind. ...
`Hugh Hood, whose thirty-year career includes such books as 1962's
Flying a Red Kite and the New Age series, continues his success
with You'll Catch Your Death. Tackling such diverse subjects as loneliness,
heroism and the search for perfection the author uses his insight into the
human condition to create a world as eclectic and eccentric as the one it reflects.'
- Quill & Quire
- Winnipeg Free Press
Photo by Noreen Mallory
His work includes: Flying a Red Kite (1962), White Figure, White Ground (1964), You Cant Get There From Here (1972), Black and White Keys (1980), The Motor Boys in Ottawa (1986), which won the first annual QSPELL Award, and You'll Catch Your Death (1992).
Hugh Hood was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988.