Henry's Game

Henry is a chess writer, a man intent on illuminating the 'great game'. Yet Henry is somewhat lost when it comes to the veracities of daily life: an alcoholic friend dies a humiliating death, then his wife is diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly Henry's ordered life seems under attack. When his wife insists that the family rent an SUV and drive across the continent to enjoy the goodwill of Disneyland, Henry is suddenly struck with "pawn's fear", unable to determine what his next move should be. Henry's Game is a novella of 21st Century manners. Even as Henry feels the pull to isolate and withdraw his defenses are no match for the onslaught of reality on the road in all its random, deadening glory. Will Henry learn to rise above the fray or invent a new gambit to disentangle his "king" from the consequences of the real world?

With the elements of a good 'road story' this novella by David Elias reveals his particular craft for seamlessly grounding a forceful narrative in the authentic and sometimes disturbing details in the lives of his characters. Elias takes on a broad scope in this darkly humorous take on mid-life, personal crisis, and chess. The novella is alive and well in the hands of David Elias, a novelist of substantial talent who hits a bracing new stride in Henry's Game.

David Elias

David Elias was born in Haskett, Manitoba. His short stories, novel excerpts, and poetry have appeared in such journals as Grain, The Malahat Review, and The New Quarterly. His short story "How I Crossed Over" was a finalist for the 1995 Journey Prize. He is the author of two collections of short stories: Crossing The Line (Orca, 1992) and Places of Grace (Coteau, 1997).  More recently he has produced novels: Sunday Afternoon (Coteau, 2004) and was nominated for numerous awards. His Most recent novel Waiting for Elvis (Coteau, 2004) was published in 2008. In addition to writing, he also spends time as an editor, writer-in-residence, mentor and creative writing instructor, and lives in Winnipeg with his wife, poet Brenda Scibberras.

Website » www.davidelias.ca