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Fiction Literary

The Last Tasmanian

by (author) Herb Curtis

Publisher
Goose Lane Editions
Initial publish date
Aug 2001
Category
Literary, Humorous
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780864923172
    Publish Date
    Aug 2001
    List Price
    $18.99

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Description

Winner, Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
Shortlisted, Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Canada and the Caribbean

The Last Tasmanian has reaped more national and international recognition than any other novel by Herb Curtis. First published in 1991, it has remained in print continuously in its original edition and later in The Brennen Siding Trilogy. Now it's available again as a separate volume in the GLE Library Series.

Brennen Siding, a hamlet on a small tributary of the famous Miramichi River, is home to an unforgettable crew — Shadrack Nash and his friend Dryfly Ramsey; Dry's mother, the homely, destitute Shirley, and Nutbeam, the big-eared hermit she marries; the American sports who come to the Cabbage Island Salmon Club to fish; and, above all, Hilda Porter, the elderly schoolteacher who treasures the story of Trucanini, the last Tasmanian on earth. Hilda herself is the last of the Porters, and, amid the invasion of TV, Elvis, and rich Americans, Shad and Dry may be the last true natives of Brennen Siding.

About the author

Herb Curtis (b. 1949) has lived all his life in New Brunswick; he moves between Fredericton and the Miramichi, where he guides visiting salmon fishermen. His masterpiece, The Brennan Siding Trilogy (Goose Lane, 1997), is a compilation of his first three novels, The Americans Are Coming (1989, 1999), The Last Tasmanian (1991, 2001) and The Lone Angler (1993). A different version of "The Party" appears in The Last Tasmanian.

Herb Curtis' profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Canada and the Caribbean
  • Winner, Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

Editorial Reviews

"Curtis's writing is confident, filled with startling images and witty, incisive stabs at Canadian issues."

<i>Toronto Star</i>

"Quite simply, this is a wonderful book. It has everything that anyone in search of a splendid read could possibly want."

<i>Books in Canada</i>

Other titles by

Miramichi Dictionary

by (author) Doug Underhill
edited by Herb Curtis

The Americans Are Coming

Reader's Guide Edition

by (author) Herb Curtis
afterword by David Richards

Bruno Bobak

The Full Palette

edited by Bernard Riordon
by (author) Herb Curtis, Laura Brandon, Gordon Smith, Marjory Rogers Donaldson & Roslyn Rosenfeld
introduction by Herménégilde Chiasson

Atlantica

Stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland

by (author) Lesley Choyce, Alistair MacLeod, Joan Clark, Wayne Johnston, Carol Bruneau, Maureen Hull, David Helwig, Herb Curtis, Anne Simpson, Lynn Coady, Donna Morrissey, J.J. Steinfeld, Budge Wilson, John Steffler, Helen Fogwill Porter, Wayne Curtis, Bernice Morgan, David Adams Richards, Joan Baxter & Sheldon Currie

Home for Christmas

edited by Sabine Campbell
by (author) Ray Guy, Ann Copeland, Robert B. Richards, Maureen Hull, David Helwig, Kelly Cooper, Anne Simpson, Sue Sinclair, Susan Haley, Mary Tunney, Harry Bruce, Bernice Morgan, Brian Bartlett, Syr Ruus, Herb Curtis, Lynn Coady, Ted Russell, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ephie Carrier, Jess Bond, Patrick O'Flaherty, David Weale, Robert Gibbs, Paul Bowdring, Clarissa Hurley, John Steffler, Wayne Johnston & Mary Jane Losier

Luther Corhern's Salmon Camp Chronicles

by (author) Herb Curtis

The Lone Angler

by (author) Herb Curtis
narrator Richard Donat

The Brennen Siding Trilogy

by (author) Herb Curtis

The Silent Partner

by (author) Herb Curtis

Gifts to Last

Christmas Stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland

by (author) Walter Learning, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Deirdre Kessler, Alistair MacLeod, Tessie Gillis, Clive Doucet, Carol Bruneau, Lawrence O'Toole, Antonine Maillet, Alden Nowlan, Helen Fogwill Porter, Joseph Sherman, Ray Guy, M.T. Dohaney, David Adams Richards, Jon Conway Dewar, Ellison Robertson, Deannie Sullivan-Fraser, Herb Curtis & Grahame Woods