Nothing the same, everything haunted : the ballad of Motl the cowboy
(Book)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published
Toronto : Random House Canada, [2021].
Format
Book
Physical Desc
333 pages ; 24 cm
Status
South Holiday Branch Library - BOOK - Adult
F BARWIN
1 available

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Published
Toronto : Random House Canada, [2021].
Language
English

Notes

Description
A middle-aged Jewish man who fantasizes about being a cowboy flees 1940s Lithuania ahead of the Nazis in this wild and witty yet heartrending novel from the bestselling author of Yiddish for Pirates, shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Motl is middle-aged, poor, nerdy, Jewish and in desperate need of a shave. Since having his balls shot cleanly off as a youth in WWI, he's lived a quiet life at home in Vilnius with his shrewd and shrewish mom, Gitl, losing himself in the masculine fantasy world of cowboy novels by writers like Karl May--novels equally loved by Hitler, whose troops have just invaded Lithuania and are out to exterminate men like Motl. In his dreams, Motl is a fast-talking, rugged, expert gunslinger capable of dealing with the Nazi threat. But only in his dreams. As friends and neighbours are killed around them, Motl and Gitl escape from Vilnius, saving their own skins. But they immediately risk everything to try rescue relatives they hope are still alive. With death all around him, Motl decides that a Jew's best revenge is not only to live, but to procreate. In order to achieve this, though, he must relocate those most crucial pieces of his anatomy lost to him down a crevasse in the Swiss Alps in the previous war. It's an absurd yet life-affirming mission, made even more urgent when he's separated from his mother, and isn't sure whether she's alive or dead. Joining forces, and eventually hearts, with Esther, a young Jewish woman whose family has been killed, Motl ventures across Europe, a kaleidoscope of narrow escapes and close encounters with everyone from Himmler, to circus freaks, double agents, quislings, fake "Indians" and real ones. Motl at last figures out that he has more connection to the Indigenous characters in western novels than the cowboys. An imaginative and deeply felt exploration of genocide, persecution, colonialism and masculinity--saturated in Gary Barwin's sharp wit and perfect pun-play--Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy is a one-of-a-kind novel of sheer genius.

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LocationCall NumberStatus
South Holiday Branch Library - BOOK - AdultF BARWINOn Shelf

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Barwin, G. (2021). Nothing the same, everything haunted: the ballad of Motl the cowboy . Random House Canada.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Barwin, Gary. 2021. Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy. Random House Canada.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Barwin, Gary. Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy Random House Canada, 2021.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Barwin, Gary. Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy Random House Canada, 2021.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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