Finnie Walsh

"Finnie Walsh is a terrific first novel, brilliantly conceived and inventively executed, with a powerhouse of an ending that resonates long after the book is finished. A stunning accomplishment from a young writer who deserves a close look." -Quill & QuireFinnie Walsh is the book John Irving would have written if he understood hockey as well as wrestling. Galloway shares with Irving the knack for constructing a magical story out of the same literary building blocks-obsession, loyalty,...
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"Finnie Walsh is a terrific first novel, brilliantly conceived and inventively executed, with a powerhouse of an ending that resonates long after the book is finished. A stunning accomplishment from a young writer who deserves a close look." -Quill & QuireFinnie Walsh is the book John Irving would have written if he understood hockey as well as wrestling. Galloway shares with Irving the knack for constructing a magical story out of the same literary building blocks-obsession, loyalty, freakish dismemberment, and strong, wise female characters. But Finnie Walsh is not some northern knock-off-it's a bracingly original telling of a particular childhood that reaffirms the importance of hockey in all our lives.Paul Woodward lives in Portsmouth, a quiet northern mill-town. Born the day Paul Henderson planted the puck between the pipes against the Soviet Union to win the 1972 Super Series, Paul has no choice about playing hockey. His best friend, Finnie, takes the game to an entirely new level. Finnie latches onto hockey, and Paul's family, with fanatical determination. After the boys' play leads to a grisly accident, life for the Woodwards veers onto the surreal terrain of magic realism. Finnie Walsh, like the fabled games before NHL expansion, is a story about greatness and legend. But it's also a heartsong to family, friendship and atonement.Reviews for Finnie Walsh:"Finnie Walsh is a fine read, a comedic elegy for the remarkable friend of an ordinary boy, written with an ease that amounts tograce, and shot through with tenderness for the odd, wonderful, fumbling souls who light its pages." -Anne Fleming"By turns funny and poignant, realistic and bizarre, this beautifully crafted first novel rattles along with the speed of an Al MacInnis slapshot. Steven Galloway boldly joins Jack Hodgins and Barbara Gowdy in the fertile field of magic realism." -Keith Maillard"This novel belongs with Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater in the hall of literary legend. Fascinating and addictive to read, it proves that plywood sticks stir up myth and magic and that in every family there lurks a Cassandra waiting to speak her prophesies." -George McWhirter