Bookmark Interview: Lynn Coady: The Antagonist

Lynn Coady’s new novel The Antagonist won’t be released by House of Anansi Press until September but already the book has been marked by the National Post as one of the most anticipated books of 2011. That’s in part because of the remarkable body of work this young Cape Breton writer, now living in Edmonton, already has given the world: such novels as Mean Boy, The Saints of Big Harbour, and her first novel Strange Heaven, nominated for a Governor General’s Award.

In The Antagonist, Coady creates the lead character Gordon Rankin, commonly called “Rank,” an oversized muscular young man who, against his will and his nature, is cast in the role of an enforcer, a goon – pressed by his hockey coach, his classmates and especially his diminutive but loud-mouthed and highly opinionated father Gordon Senior. Much of the book features a series of monologues by “Rank”. They come in the form of a series of e-mails sent to a former friend who has outraged Rank by using him as a character in a book, and not in a flattering manner. Rank is gradually revealed to us as a sensitive and intelligent soul trapped within a body that betrays the inner self. Throughout Coady uses lively, dancing language and a devilish sense of humour to carry the tale to its final revelations.
Look me Video... 

I met with Lynn Coady recently to talk about The Antagonist and asked her to discuss the seminal influences in creating Gordon Rankin Junior. You can hear that interview by clicking on the Title of this Blog Entry.