Between indecent exposure and intellectual property theft, it's tough being Lewis this year.
East Coast architect Lewis Morton thought he had it all: loving wife and children, dream job, and a house that meets his exacting architectural standards. But after his beloved mentor dies unexpectedly and Lewis gets pulled into a lawsuit that threatens to destroy his career and possibly his life, the respectable identity he has carefully constructed for himself after fleeing his Jewish childhood in Montreal begins to disintegrate. In trying to build his new future he must first come to terms with his past. Who is Lewis Morton, and who will he choose to become?

Born in Montreal, Daniel Goodwin grew up in a bookish and artistic Montreal household (Irving Layton was an omnipresent great-uncle, Betty Goodwin a more distant aunt). After a misspent youth writing poetry, he ran away to the East Coast in his mid-twenties to join an oil company. He has since lived in four provinces and worked as a teacher, journalist, corporate communicator and government relations executive, but through it all he continued to write, and his poems and essays have appeared in several Canadian journals and newspapers including Literary Review of Canada, Contemporary Verse II, The Antigonish Review, The Globe and Mail, and Calgary Herald. Goodwin's first novel, Sons and Fathers - about that special relationship, but also about politics, journalism, poetry, and spin - will be published in fall 2014 by Linda Leith Publishing. Goodwin currently lives in Calgary with his wife and three children.

Daniel Goodwin's profile page

• Long-listed, Leacock Memorial Medal
• Short-listed, Nancy Richler Memorial Prize for Fiction

"Daniel Goodwin's The Art of Being Lewis is a smart, funny and warm-hearted novel in the spirit and lineage of Mordecai Richler."

David Bezmozgis, author of <i>The Betrayers</i> and <i>Natasha and Other Stories</i>

"A literary page-turner with profound insight into the stories we make our own."

Atlantic Books Today

“Imagine if, one fine day, your meticulously structured world fell apart. For Lewis Morton, a successful architect, it’s as if one of his buildings has collapsed over his head, burying in the rubble his sense of purpose and even his sanity. In this insightful, well-crafted and warm-hearted novel, Daniel Goodwin shows us that the materials upon which we build our lives should include the tricky yet essential blend of steel and imagination. This is that essential story of how to build a house that can properly be called a home.”

David Layton, author of <i>The Dictator</i>

"The novel’s cast of characters is sketched with care, down to the cut of their suit, the confidence expressed in their stance, the set of their expression in an awkward social setting. In its attention to detail The Art of Being Lewis is a contemporary version of the novel of manners by Jane Austen or George Eliot."

The Canadian Jewish News

"Daniel Goodwin's poetry and novels are always filled with deep insights into the confused state of modern masculinity. The Art of Being Lewis is his best work so far: a sad, hilarious, philosophical novel that blends fine writing and forward momentum. You will think about Lewis, his humiliations and regular triumphs, before falling asleep at night (if you can stop to turn out the light)."

Todd Babiak, author of <i>Come Barbarians</i>