I've seen this here and there on lists of Canadian Literature one should read, so I tracked it down, and it's been on the TBR shelf a while. It's fiction, but based on a true crime event that took place in the 1930's.
Bank robber Kip Caley while serving time in prison apparently undergoes a sincere reformation and with the help of a priest and a senator is released early on parole. He is given a job as a sort of greeter/mingler at a hotel-club, where people are drawn to meet him because of his celebrity. He wants to do more, and dreams of being a sort of liasson between criminals and the establishment, perhaps even serving on the parole board. His dreams are shattered, though, and soon criminal elements are overpowering his better instincts.
The book is well-written, in a very terse style, without an extra word, which makes it very powerful indeed. It is also very, very dated, and very much of its time in the characters it portrays, their dialogue, and the way it is written. I was therefore never fully engulfed in the world Callaghan was creating.

2 1/2 stars ( )

A seemingly simple tale of reformed and newly-released bank robber who is hailed as a returning hero by the media and held up as an example of how well the justice system works by politicians.

I say "seemingly simple" because this is a novel by Morley Callaghan and nothing is as simple as it at first seems in his works. As the secret agendas of the both society and the law-makers becomes clear, Callaghan exposes the lack of integrity and irresponsibility inherent in all our respected institutions, and the isolating and self-destructive potential of fame.

I didn't expect to like it, as the subject matter (ex-convict, etc) held little appeal. However, I picked it up for a dollar on the strength of my enjoyment of Callaghan's other works.

In short, I was blown away. The adjective 'visceral' comes to mind, in that I was so completely transported into the life experience of this man who would not otherwise cross my mind..

Callaghan is a master. 'Nuff said. ( )

It's a decent novel. The last two chapters kinda make up for the disinterest I felt for much of this novel of redemption and of the phoniness of society.

There were some rare flashes of vivid imagery from Callaghan that I appreciated. For instance, this passage from chapter 22: "He was standing in the dark, jerking the words out of him so rapidly he seemed to lose his breath. He began to stride up and down, his great shadow was thrown and broken and thrown and broken"...

Also from page 182 in the second last chapter: "Looking down at Foley's twitching face on the sunlit road he knew that Foley was evil. But it didn't matter. They were combing the city for him, the Judas; details of police spread out with a special hatred of him."

I'm not sure what to say about this book, it's easy to read, and the action happens quickly, but the moral is ambiguous and not easy to pick out, if there is one. ( )