Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew

Stuart Ross is the author of Buying Cigarettes for the Dog; Dead Cars in Managua; and Hey, Crumbling Balcony! He lives in Cobourg, Ontario.

Struggling with the sudden, nagging notion that his mother once assassinated a prominent neo-Nazi leader, Ben-a performance artist, about to turn 40-doesn't know where to turn. His parents are both dead and his brother, having previously been institutionalized, is a lousy source of information. In a non-chronological montage of memories, this inventive tale blends suburban realism with out-of-body surrealism as Ben travels back and forth through life events, attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together.