Winner, Dartmouth Book Award
Shortlisted, Atlantic Booksellers Choice Award

A small Canadian island declares its independence to the world and benign anarchy reigns. A god-like ocean deposits many a thing, yet it also takes away. The 1960s blaze off shore and draw the island's inhabitants into politics, the Vietnam War, and the peace movement.

Sound impossible? Not on Whalebone Island, AKA the Republic of Nothing. Where else can a dead circus elephant, a long-dead Viking, the discovery of uranium, a raven-haired castaway who may be psychic, an anarchist turned politician, and refugees fleeing from the United States all be part of everyday life? Where else is eccentricity embraced with such open arms?

In this new readers' guide edition, complete with an afterword by Neil Peart, Lesley Choyce's novel about resilience, independence, and anarchy comes alive, leading readers to discover once again that everything is nothing and nothing is everything.

No one has a clearer view of Atlantic Canada's literary endeavours over the past twenty years than Lesley Choyce. He is the founder of the literary journal Pottersfield Portfolio, and the publisher of Pottersfield Press. He has edited several fiction anthologies and has been the in-house editor of many books from Pottersfield Press including Making Waves, a collection of stories by emerging authors from Atlantic Canada. He is the author of more than fifty books in genres ranging from poetry and essays to autobiography, history and fiction for adults, young adults, and children. Among his recent books are the novels The Republic of Nothing, World Enough, and Cold Clear Morning, and the story collection Dance the Rocks Ashore. Choyce is the writer, host, and co-producer of the popular literary show television program, Off the Page with Lesley Choyce, which is broadcast across the country on Vision TV. He also teaches in the English department of Dalhousie University in Halifax and is leader of the rock band The Surf Poets.

Lesley Choyce's profile page

Neil Peart is an internationally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty-five years has been the celebrated drummer and lyricist for Rush, the most successful band in the history of Canadian rock music. Defying categorization, his books have earned a devoted, ever-growing readership by combining elements of memoir, travel writing, and social commentary with a thoughtful, musical sense of self-discovery. His previous books include ROADSHOW: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour by Motorcycle (2006), the story of Peart’s two-wheeled travels on Rush’s 30th Anniversary tour in 2004; TRAVELING MUSIC: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times (2004), a unique triple memoir of a man, a musician, and a traveler; and THE MASKED RIDER: Cycling in West Africa (1996), a richly textured account of bicycle touring in “the continent where both life and art began.” The relentlessly soul-searching GHOST RIDER: Travels on the Healing Road (2002) was chosen by The Writers’ Trust of Canada as a Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize finalist for its “exceptional merit” as one of the five best biographies of the year. For their achievements, Peart and his Rush bandmates have been appointed Officers of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Neil Peart's profile page

• Winner, Dartmouth Book Award
• Short-listed, Atlantic Booksellers Choice Award
• Short-listed, Atlantic Booksellers' Choice Award

"If you need a little Zen in your life, The Republic of Nothing is a good way to learn to extricate yourself from the beaten path and find the wonder of nothingness."

<i>Brunswickan</i>

"An unpredictable universe ... It's this unpredictability that makes the novel a success."

<i>Calgary Herald</i>

"The Republic of Nothing weaves an intricate, sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic narrative."

<i>Daily Gleaner</i>

"A national treasure."

<i>Ottawa Citizen</i>

"Choyce has mastered the skill of an old-fashioned story-teller."

<i>Cormorant</i>

"A contemporary classic in Canadian literature."

<i>Telegraph Journal</i>

"Don't miss The Republic of Nothing."

<i>Guardian</i>

"The Republic of Nothing is an unpredictable universe ... It's this unpredictability that makes the novel a success."

<i>Calgary Herald</i>

"A little gem of a story that should be granted its appropriate label as a Canadian version of [Salman Rushdie's] Midnight's Children."

<i>Montreal Gazette</i>

"Quirky yet compelling drama."

<i>Midwest Book Review</i>

"Choyce takes this deceptively simple story and ... fills it with characters who are wry, warm, funny, and magical. This is by far the author's best novel."

<i>Canadian Book Review Annual</i>

"The Republic of Nothing is the product of a sprawling and original literary imagination, bustling with colourful and sympathetic characters, bursting with fanciful incident, and propelled by a relentless narrative drive. It is, quite simply, a good read."

<i>Pottersfield Portfolio</i>

"The written word is a powerful tool in Lesley Choyce's hands."

<i>Vancouver Sun</i>

"The fact that the book has lasted for 10 years is a testimony to its popularity in these days when few books retain any life or fame after a year."

<i>Chronicle Herald</i>

"The writing is reminiscent, both in wit and sensibility, of Stephen Leacock and Garrison Keillor."

<i>Quill & Quire</i>

"A triple-decker of a yarn shot through with mythic possibilities, it's part fairy tale, part adventure story and part coming-of-age testimonial; it manages to be earnest and absurd, poetic and humorous all at once ... a pleasure to read."

<i>Globe and Mail</i>

"This is Choyce's best book yet ... a reminder that we all need to keep a little creative anarchy in our lives."

<i>Mail-Star</i>

"The Republic of Nothing ... stamps the eccentricity of the rugged Eastern Shore in a reader’s mind forever."

<i>Atlantic Books Today</i>

"Radiant with energy."

<i>Winnipeg Free Press</i>

"The Republic of Nothing definitely has something to it."

<i>FFWD</i>