This Location of Unknown Possibilities

by Brett Josef Grubisic

critically-acclaimed
from-british-columbia
lgbtq
literary

When English Professor Marta Spëk is offered a film consultant’s contract, she’s fighting a bad case of year-end doldrums. She signs on, imagining that exotic hands-on work at the sandy location shoot for a made-in-Canada biopic will open doors of opportunity and spark her creativity—or at the very least supply interesting material for her family’s annual Labour Day gathering. Meanwhile, her soon-to-be boss, the handsome cynic Jake Nugent, who’s well experienced with shoot dynamics in remote sites, hopes only to stamp out inevitable problems before they swallow the budget and cost him a job. Script changes (massive), on-set mishaps (minor), and after-hours misadventures (many) guarantee that Marta and Jake won’t easily forget this week in the Okanagan Valley. A wry look at the shoestring end of a billion-dollar industry and the occasional but profound foolishness of the human heart, This Location of Unknown Possibilities makes a case for black comedy being the best lens for viewing contemporary life.

Contributors

Brett Josef Grubisic, author

A lecturer of English literature residing in Vancouver, Brett Josef Grubisic is the author of the novels The Age of Cities and This Location of Unknown Possibilities. Previous publications include Understanding Beryl Bainbridge, Contra/diction, Carnal Nation (co-edited with Carellin Brooks), American Hunks (co-authored with David L. Chapman), National Plots (co-edited with Andrea Cabajsky), and Blast, Corrupt, Dismantle, Erase (co-edited with Giséle M. Baxter and Tara Lee).

Reviews

As the film, the narrative, and the characters spiral further out of control, the book gets darker, stranger, and funnier. By the time the film has wrapped, it has morphed into something utterly different, and the novel’s own narrative has mutated, twisted, and slipped its bonds. When the book goes off the rails it is shattering and glorious – just as shattering and glorious as the lives we pretend we’re the authors of. - Quill & Quire Link to review
Absurd without being absurdist, the satire draws its strength from its verisimilitude, the impression that as ludicrous as parts are, none of this is impossible or indeed, particularly unlikely. Billed as a black comedy, the work proves oddly reassuring; despite unforeseen complications its characters remain determined to prevail. - Publishers Weekly Link to review

Rights Holder

Rights Holder: Now Or Never Publishing

email: chris@nonpublishing.com

website: www.nonpublishing.com

rights sold: Canada

rights available: World

Additional Information

number of pages: 342

publication date: 04/15/2014

Original language of pub: English

Materials Available: finished book