The Cartel and Other Cover Stories
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Pub Date Sep 8 2026 | Archive Date Nov 30 2026
Literary Press Group of Canada | Freehand Books
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Description
These “cover stories” are bold new takes on classic short stories from the masters, brilliantly bringing together the old and the new.
From bestselling novelist Wayne Grady comes the delightful and inventive The Cartel and Other Cover Stories, his first collection of short fiction. Just as cover songs are both tributes to other musicians and original works in themselves, here Grady masterfully reimagines classic short stories in a way that honours the originals while creating something entirely new.
Each story in this collection takes its inspiration from works by international masters of the form, including Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, and Lydia Davis, drawing together new contexts and connections. For instance, in “La Gordita,” inspired by Guy de Maupassant’s “Boule de Suif” about the French bourgeoisie, Grady skewers wealthy expats in Mexico as they make arrangements to leave their winter homes when a drug cartel threatens to seize control of their town.
Bringing together delectably stylish prose, striking characters, a foreword from Margaret Atwood, and “literary liner notes” that bring context to the original stories and the short story form, Wayne Grady’s collection of cover stories is not to be missed!"
A Note From the Publisher
- For readers who love the craft of storytelling
- Hybrid work of short story and essay. Literature about literature
- Foreword by Margaret Atwood
- For readers who love the craft of storytelling
- Hybrid work of short story and essay. Literature about literature
Advance Praise
"Certainly the short story lends itself well to interpretive manipulation. Swap a setting, compress an ending, reorient a quarrel from an undersung point of view: et voilà! Grady isn’t the first to rejig a Nikolai Gogol. What sets this collection apart is its generous versatility, the cumulative fusion of fiction and gloss." - LITERARY REVIEW OF CANADA
“Wayne Grady’s unmissable The Cartel and Other Cover Stories is not like any book you’re likely to have ever read. Yes, it’s a collection of accomplished, enjoyable, and intriguing original tales. But it’s also an investigation into the nature of stories themselves: how are they constructed, what are they telling us and how?” – MARGARET ATWOOD
“The cover stories in The Cartel are amazingly—impossibly—every bit as good as their originals. Wayne Grady is no expired rocker fronting a cover band in a hotel lobby. He is dexterous, sure-footed, and slides through genres with Jaggerlike physicality. He is the kind of Canadian writer the world needs now: unassuming, insightful, with a quiet intensity that spills over into virtuosity.” — IAN WILLIAMS
“A brilliant exploration of the philosophy of literature, the art of the short story, and the creative act itself, The Cartel and Other Cover Stories is a wonder.” —JANE URQUHART
Marketing Plan
- Launches in Toronto, Ottawa, and Kingston
- CTV news interview
- Radio Interviews
- CBC interview
- Kingston Writer's Festival
- Launches in Toronto, Ottawa, and Kingston
- CTV news interview
- Radio Interviews
- CBC interview
- Kingston Writer's Festival
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781997534242 |
| PRICE | CA$22.95 (CAD) |
| PAGES | 264 |